Shard Jethro Firebrand
by MicroRyuu
Summary: What if a dragon wanted friends, and made friends with none other than the Moon Princess? Princess Luna returned from her banishment, and has no friends, struggling to fix her dark image gained a thousand years ago. What if this dragon can help her? Watch as a romance grows between the most unlikely pair, problems arrise and Celestia...figts a dragon?
1. Prplogue 1: Beginnings

**_Hellooooooo! I'm new to this so I don't really know if this will be good, please treat me nicely. The MLP fandom drew me in like a wormhole, and I have selected Luna as my favourite pony, tied with Fluttershy. I'm currently watching the cartoons so I'll probably add elements from there as I see the episodes. For this story, Luna is going to make her appearance after the prologue and she'll be the main mare in my story. She deserves more character development in what I've seen of the cartoons, and I wanted to give it to her. Hope you enjoy my story!_**

 ** _Rate and Review!_**

 ** _Celestia: Micro, you have forgotten to do the disclaimer._**

 ** _Sorry for that. I..._**

 ** _Luna:Wait! I wish to do this 'disclaimer'._**

 ** _Celestia: Of course my little sister._**

 ** _Luna:Micro does not own anything, just the plot and OC name. My Little Pony belongs to Lauren Faust, and the name Jethro Belongs to the creator of NCIS, I believe it is Dick Wolf._**

* * *

I've been flapping my wings for hours now, and I can feel my shoulders start to burn under the strain. ' _Hope I can find a place to hide soon...'_. The political tension between the two sides of the dragon-kin finally snapped, and we the neutral dragons who wanted nothing more with the conflict got hunted. I look at the sky, admiring the soft glow of the moon, and how it iluminates the scenery in a silvery light. _'If there really is someone on the moon, help me tonight.'_ I've heard stories about a mare who was condemned to prison in the moon, but that seems a bit too far fetched. I fly in relative silence, turning my head every now and then to check if anyone was following me, but no one was. The wind gushed past my ears, and the noise could drown out the sound produced by flapping.

Thirty minutes later I find a mountain with a decent sized cave, and I head in, and not moments too soon; as I see two dragons fly over, following a seeker. I didn't want to press my luck with being found by the radicals, so I enter deeper into the cave to escape the range of the seeker. "Who dares tresspass into my cave?!" The voice was really deep, probably helped by the eco inside the cave. "I'm Shard and I only seek temporary shelter. Once my pursuers leave, I shall abandon your cave."

* * *

' _This kid is probably running from the same people as me...but I can't risk being found after all this time. I'm sorry...'_

* * *

The voice didn't like that. "Lies! You want my horde for yourself. You are to leave now!" He roared the sentence and a fire billowed, pushing me out, and making me land on my but in a clearing. "Look Joseph, the stray finally appeared. Should we tell him?" I try to fly in a difrent direction, avoiding their gaze that felt like needles, but the other two block my path. "I think we should Isaac." Joseph, a dark green colored dragon with a slightly smaller build than the rest; his tail was severed, probably by another alfa. He answered to the dark blue one.. "You should have seen the faces when they found out about our plans for them." Isaac said. "We..." "They're dead, because of you." a dark brown colored one interrupted the first two. The brown one was muscular, and covered with battle scars; his eyes were a green color, steeled with determination and a predatory smile plastered on his face. "Firebrand, this is your last chance. Side with us, and survive; or side with the others and suffer the consequences."

The dragon tribe I lived in was in a heated debate about either begining a war with the rest of the draco tribes, or with the non-dragon species around. When this all started six months ago, most of us wanted nothing to do with a war, causing my current predicament. Each side was at each other's throats, wanting to unify the opinions and start a war, making the ones who didn't join them silent 'permanently'. I was one of the few who had fled to avoid a fight, but they chased me here. "I won't join a side, I just want a normal, peaceful life." The yellow one shook his head. "Too bad...for you..."

"AAAAAHHH!"

* * *

 **Normal POV**

Fluttershy was at her home, enjoying the company of her little animals, when she noticed it was time to go to sleep. "...Um, friends, it's time to go to sleep, it's late." The little critters stopped everything and looked down, sad faced. "P-please don't be sad. We can do this again tomorrow." They all reluctantly left to sleep, except for Angel who held a can up to her. "Angel bunny, you know that you can't eat more cookies, you already had yours for today." She insisted, trying to grab the cannister with her hoof, but failing as Angel pulled it away and clutched it closer. "Angel, please. You can't have more. Don't make me use 'it'." She insisted some more, but kept failing. _'Oh, he's so stubborn sometimes'_

After her 'stare' Angel gave up and handed her the cannister. "Good Angel. Now let's go to sleep, we have a long day tomorrow." She climbed her stairs and got under the covers, ready to sleep, but a flashng light caught her attention. _'What was that?'_ She hopped off of the bed and fluttered to the window, catching sight of the flash, a shooting star. ' _Oh...I wish...'_ Once she made her wish, Fluttershy sauntered over to the bed again. "Goodnight Angel bunny." Soon after she fell asleep, but not for much.

The next day came rather slowly for the yellow colored mare. Not knowing if it was her imagination or something real, she stayed up all night, listening to a pained groan of sorts. She went to her mirror to fix her mane, got her winter saddle on, her boots, ear muffs, and scarf; then proceded to go into town. "Morning Fluttershy!" Many of he ponyfolk in the market greeted her, to which she greeted back, walking at a slow, steady pace towards the pet shop. ' _I need carrots for A_ _ngel bunny, honey for Harry the bear, seeds for Hummingway...'_ She made a list in her mind, and didn't notice a anxious zebra in her way. "Kyaaa!" Shouted Fluttershy. Both fell on their haunges, but the shy pegasus flew up seconds after. "Fluttershy? Just the pegasus I was looking for! Come with me." The zebra told her and grabbed her hoof, dragging her away. "Z-zecora...why did you need my help?" The zebra paced back and forth, looking for something around the shops. "Last night, did you see the shooting star?" Zekora's question made the shy pegasus get exited. "Yes! I did... It was beautiful." her voice was low and soft. "Well, I don't think it' was a shooting star. Last night I couldn't sleep with the groans of pain from deep in the Everfree. An animal is in pain, and it must be something dangerous." Fluttershy stared at the striped mare. "Y-you heard them too? I-i thought that it was all in my head.. " The yellow mare played with a bit of snow under her hoof. "Well, it wasn't, and that worries me. Let's get the rest of your friends and check out what it was, it might be a problem for Ponyville."

* * *

 **Sometime after lunch**

The mares had gathered at Fluttershy's house. "Le'mme get it straih. You're sayin that yeh heard some weird noises last nigh?" Applejack asked Fluttershy, to which she received a nod. "And Zecora said they were groans of pain from an animal deep within the Everfree?" Next Rarity asked, again receiving a nod. "What are we waiting for! Let's go check it out and kick some monster butt!" The blue pegasus declared, attempting to leave via the door. "Houh here wiw wissi." The country mare with a hat held her tail with her mouth. "We can't just charge in not knowing what's out there. We need a way to know where we are or we'll get lost in all the snow. Plus, we might need to repel it."

It was almost three o'clock when they all departed to the forest. "Ok girls, we'll split up in pairs and gathr here in two hours." Applejack said while pointing out three routes, one for each pair. "Okie-dokie-lokie!" Pinkie said. Most of them nodded Applejack's prearanged routes, deciding to head out as soon as posible. "Stop. I simply cannot let you go like this! You must at least try to make an effort in what you wear." Rarity went on, handing each pair matching scarves she pulled out from her saddle bags. "Now you look much more in sync with your partner." After she was pleased with the scarves, she and Pinkie Pie left for their route, while Zecora and Rainbow Dash headed to theirs, leaving Applejack and Fluttershy. "Well Pumpkin, we bettr get goin." Fluttershy hovered a few inches off of the ground following Applejack.

They spent the whole afternoon searching the forest, but came back empty. After a few expeditions to the forest, they met at the entrance. "Girls, it's gettin late. We should continue the search in the mornin." Applejack stated. Rarity let out a sigh of relief. "Oh yes, my hooves are killing me. I'll need extra time in the spa for this if I am to perform my part in packing winter." Rarity went on, everyone else knowing how melodramatic she could be. "Where's Fluttershy, Aj?" Rainbow asked worriedly. "Oh, she's gonna check up on some bunnies close by. She found tracks, and got worried for 'em. Ah told her we were leavin soon." Applejack said, securing her Stetson. "Fine. Should we wait for her so she doesn't get lost?" Applejack shook her head. "She said she was leavin directly to her house after checkin on the bunnies, so we should leave as well, the blizzard will be uppon us soon." Rainbow Dash seemed to understand. "Ok. See you tomorrow girls!" They all departed, leaving Fluttershy to her bunny search.

* * *

 **Fluttershy POV**

I followed some tracks to a bunny's nest, which is strange since they should be hybernating. "Hey there little guy..." I spoke to the inside of the burrow, poking my head inside, but no animal came out. ' _Where could he be?'_ I kept walking, the snow crunching at my boots. I was walking absently, until... "Ahhh!" I slid down a slope, probably four feet down, but I didn't get hurt. "What was...EEEEP!"

 **WHOOOOOOSHHHHH**

I hid behind a tree after the noise. Peeking slowly, I watch as the strange noise was actually produced by a branch breaking from the wind. I let out a sigh and resume my search, and reach a spot where there are drag marks. _'Wha...'_ The marks are quite large; footprints large enough to fit a foal on one side, followed by a set of footprints that looked like the animal was limping, and a long continuous drag mark in between the footprints. I could feel it getting slightly chilier, the wind picking up, so I had to decide quickly. I decided follow the marks and as I reach a cave, the wind has turned into a blizzard. "Oh, what am I going to do now?" _'I should stay here and wait out this storm.'_ Sighing, I walk in, and I can hear the eco of my boots on the walls of the cave.

Growling inside the cave startles me. "He-hello? A-anyone here?" I can feel myself shaking. My eyes take a few moments to adapt to the darkness and when they do..."EEEEEEEEEEP!" I stand petrified. A dragon was glaring at me, his sharp teeth exposed and a conflicted pain in his eyes. "..." I felt him watching me, studying me to see if I was a threat. His wings were folded back, one of them twisted in a strange way. "*gasp* You're hurt...can I help you?" It hissed, and I recoiled quickly, not letting me get closer. "If I don't do anything now, you might not be able to fly again...I'm Fluttershy." His wing was pretty swolen, and blue-ish, not a good sign. He stopped growling and lowered it's head, so I slowly got closer. "Let's see...good boy." I inspected it and found that it only needed to be set properly so it could heal. "Did you try to fix it yourself?" I looked at the dragon, and it slowly nodded. "Well...You were very brave to try. I can fix it for you, but it will hurt...a lot. Are you ready?" I asked the dragon, who closed it's eyes hard and nodded so I grabbed the twisted part, and after securely grabbing his wing, I yanked it and set it into place.

 **ROOOOOAAAAAARRR**

The dragon roared lowdly, then settled down. I was hiding my face under my hooves, and when he stoped I slowly removed them. I watched as he gently touched his wing with the tip of his claw, felling the decrese in pain. "You shouldn't use your wing for a few days. After that, you can fly away." I sat a few paces away from him and layed on the floor, ready to go to sleep, but the cold was harsh. 'I'll have to go to sleep shivering.' I had my flank to the mouth of the cave, and the fridgid air that seeped in hit me like a bucket of cold water, which got me shivering like crazy. A few minutes passed, but I couldn't sleep, and I heard shuffling. "Huh?" I had expected it to ignore me now that he was ok, but he moved next to me limping, and covered me with his good wing like a toasty blanket. "You hurt your leg too?" I saw him nod, and I snuggled closer to it's belly and whispered. "Thank you." I could see the corner of its mouth turn up. Soon I drifted to slumber, and just before I did, I heard him say in a barely audible voice: "...No, thank you." With a small smile I let Morfeous take me to his domain.


	2. Prologue 2: Princess Luna arrives

**Hiiiii! I'm here with the next chapter. Now, Luna's appearance wasn't very big, but here's what I think happened on the moon. The next chapter revolves around the Summer Sun Celebration and part of Luna's beginning back at Equestria. Now that I introduced Shard, comes the real beginning. This here is the end of the prologues. Hope I live to the expectations you guys have of me.**

 **Review, comment and enjoy.**

 **Luna: Thy will say that Micro doesn't own anything. Check previous chapter for full disclaimer. Nos onward with this story!**

* * *

 **?POV**

I woke up with the creak of a tree outside. Craning my head towards the entrance of the cave, I look and find a fallen pine tree leaning on the mouth of the cave. _'Hope that those guys didn't find me again.'_ I carefully remove my wing from the petite equine sleeping next to me, head over to the mouth of the cave and move the tree, grabbing some of the bigger branches for making a bonfire(?). I haul...more like drag the branches to where we were sleeping with my tail, avoiding the extra weight on my bruised leg. It takes me some time with my limping, but I manage to make it and place the biggest branches in a circle like pattern, lighting it up with my fire breath. I look over to my equine companion, and she's shivering, her lips slightly blue from the cold; so I decide to cover her up again with my wing and do so until she wakes up. I didn't have to wait long. "Fuaaaahh." She yawned, a cute little one at that; grabbing the edge of my wing, she repositioned it, getting comfortable again and dozing off.

I chuckled and nudge her head with my snout a few times until she woke up. "Mmmmm..." She stretched her legs and groggily looked up at me. "Morning..." Her eyes opened like saucers and she frantically looked around, but calmed down a few seconds later. I twist my head a bit to the side, and she sighs. "I-i'm sorry...I forgot where I was for a moment." I let out the air I was unconsciously holding and she giggled a bit. "Thank you...for everything..." She was hiding her face behind her bubblegum pink mane, a small blush on her face. I nod and stand up from my spot near her and approach the fire, not really knowing what to do. I watched as she went to the mouth of the cave and came back rather quickly. "The blizzard hasn't stopped...I guess that we'll stay here until it blows over."

I nod and place my head on my paws. She looks at me with a nervous expression, at my wing, then back at me. _'Maybe she wants me to cover her again?'_ I lift my wing and pat he ground under it with my tail, she flashes a nervous smile and hesitantly lays down close to me, and I gently lower my wing over her. "Um, can you talk? I heard you last night and was wondering if you could, or was it me?" I looked at her surprised. _'She heard me?'_ I took a few breaths to steady myself and built the courage. "Yeah. Although I thought I said it after you fell asleep." A smile got plastered on her face. "You can talk! I've never met a talking dragon before. How did you hurt your wing?...Your leg! How is it?" She was over my leg, checking it over. "It's nothing a day's rest won't fix. I don't want to talk about how I got hurt right now. My question is, how did you get lost in Timberwolf Forest?"

* * *

 **Fluttershy POV**

 _'He doesn't want to talk about how he got hurt...he'll tell me when he's comfortable.'_ I was sitting next to him, curled up in a ball while looking at him. "Timberwolf Forest? - he nodded- Well, I was looking around for a bad creature with my friends, but came up empty. When we were about to leave, I found footprints of a bunny and went to check if he needed help, but I couldn't find the him. Searching for it, I found the tracks that led me here." He hummed and placed a log on the fire to keep it going. "Hey...uhh...mmm... What's your name?" His mouth fell open. "I'm sorry, I forgot that. My name is...Shard Jethro Firebrand, but you can call me Jethro, I don't like Shard." _'But Shard is a great name...I wonder why he doesn't like it?'_ I looked at his face, which was downcast. "Ok Jethro. Where are you from? Can all dragons talk? What species are you? Are all dragons like you?" I asked question after question, unaware that they were a bit too many questions. "I'm from a place very far from here. Its a small village, but we managed. Dragons never look alike, even in family...what were the other questions?" He rubbed his neck sheepishly, which made me smile.

"I asked if all dragons can talk, and what species are you?" "All dragons can talk after they grow a bit, and I'm a Nyct dragon. Nyct dragons have some magic power, but not as much strength as other species." I sat in silence, taking in everything he said, and he stood up. "The blizzard stopped for now. You should return to your home, I'll be fine here." I scowled. "I'm not leaving until I'm sure your leg is ok." Getting close, I started rubbing his leg until I found a spot where he flinched. "...This here's a sprained ankle. I'll go get some packed snow to lower the swelling, and apply some pine needles to clean it." Under the hard scales there was a cut, not very deep mind you, but it could get infected anytime soon, so I left, ignoring his calls . I shivered when I stepped outside, grabbing as fast as I could the snow and a few needles of the pine over the cave entrance. I reached him, and shivering slightly, I applied the pine needles I chewed, rubbing it in under the scales and then the ice. "You'll stay off of your leg so it can heal. I'll be back tomorrow to bring you food."

"You don't have to do that, I'll manage on my own." He said. I quickly looked back. "No excuses mister, you better do as I say so you heal. Besides, friends help each other out. You helped me last night, and I'll help you get better... is there anything you want?" He shook his head. "Nothing in particular, anything is fine, just don't tell anyone about me. Dragons aren't very popular around these parts." I nodded. _'I can understand why...not every dragon is as nice as him...maybe if he comes with me to Ponyville when he heals, people could see he's not bad.'_ "I'll come back tomorrow morning with food. Bye Jethro! And stay off of your leg!" I shouted, well, it sounded more like a loud whisper. He waved at me and I left.

Once home, I met an angry bunny, who demanded to know where I was last night. "Angel bunny, I got stranded in a cave last night. A dragon I met took care of me while I slept as thanks for fixing his wing." Angel bunny raised his little paws and made a fighting gesture. "Oh no. Jethro is a nice dragon. I promised him food, so I should go to town...*gasp* We're supposed to search for the dangerous creature today...which is Jethro! Oh, how am I supposed to explain to the girls that we can't go searching for the creature? And how am I going to explain to them that I made friends with it, a dragon no less?" I kept pacing back and forth in my living room, trying to think of a way to solve this while Angel bunny jumped on a table and was yelling at me. "Angel bunny, I can't think with you yelling at me, so could you please keep it down?" I asked, but he just kept yelling. "Shut up please..." I raised my voice a bit. "SHUT UP!" He finally stopped yelling at me and I sighed.

 **Knock Knock**

"Kyaaa!" I got startled and flew up, hitting myself in the head with the roof. "Fluttershy? You there?" From outside, I heard Sweetie Bell calling. "Just a second." I trotted to the door and opened it. "Hello Sweetie Bell, what brings you here?" She wasn't happy and jumpy like usual. "Well, Applejack sent me to tell you that she won't be able to make it today for the search. Applebloom was supposed to come to town to sell the apples with Big Macintosh and us, but she got sick and had to stay at Sweet Apple Acres. Applejack took her place at the cart." "Oh gosh, that's terrible." Sweetie Bell sighed. "Yeah, we were going to try to earn our Cutie Marks with wood crafting." Sweetie Bell turned around and left. _'Well, with no search today, I could get Jethro's food.'_ I changed my scarf and exited my cottage, closing the door behind me.

* * *

 **3rd Person POV**

The butter colored mare walked around Ponyville, and easily found Applejack's apple cart. "Well howdy Sugarcube. What'cha doin round here? There anythin' you need?" Applejack asked. "Well, yes...I need a cart of apples...if you don't mind.. " Applejack's mouth fell open. "A whole cart?! Why yeh need a whole cart for?" The apple farming mare had her hooves on the counter of her cart, leaning forward towards Fluttershy. "Well...I-I need it for a new friend I made in the Everfree yesterday. He's badly hurt and can't get food on his own, so I told him I was going to get him some tomorrow." Applejack held the pegasus by her shoulders. "Did ya get hurt or somethn? You got attacked by the strange beast?" Applejack was checking Fluttershy for any wounds, but the pegasus waved a hoof. "Oh no. I was so caught up with the bunny yesterday that I had to stay in a cave last night and wait out the blizzard. Inside the cave I found this wonderful creature that I thought it was going to eat me at first, but he had crashed while flying and broken a wing. After I fixed his wing, I fell asleep and in the morning today I promised to bring him food tomorrow."

Fluttershy finished her story and Applejack had her mouth agape. "Close your mouth, or flies will get in." The earth pony's mouth was closed by the pegasus' hoof. "If you can get the cart to my house tomorrow, I'll be very grateful, and I'll also take it to him." "Sugarcube, I'll help ya. A cart is not light, and I doubt y'all could drag it throuh the forrest on yer own." Applejack answered after shaking her head. "Oh no...I can't ask you to do it...I don't want to bother you. It would be an inconvenience..." The orange colored mare placed her hoof around her shoulder. "Nonsense Sugarcube. You don't inconvenience me in the slightst. Besides, you bought more apples than I sold 'n this whole week. I'll be at yer house after nine tah help with the cart." "O-ok." The butter colored mare placed the bits on the counter and left to complete the checklist of items to buy she started yesterday, but was interrupted by the search.

* * *

 **(Location: the Moon)**

The barren land overlooked the world, a purple-blue alicorn gazing sadly at it, specifically the tallest mountain of her memories. "Thou plan on gazing down at your previous home?" The booming voice sent venom filled words at her. "Well, 400 years is a lot of time to think, and what thy sister Celestia said all those years ago sounds...reasonable now." The purple-blue mare sighed, resting her head on her crossed hooves. "Huh, this comes from the very same alicorn that threatened to bring eternal night, thou disgust me. - The dark blue alicorn made a retching sound, the purple-blue miasma surrounding her image. - Now you regret what you did? Don't you remember that your own sister banished you to this millennial prison? Hath every other pony under your rule slept through the night, adoring your sister through the day and not even thanking you?" The canterlot voice was truly loud, and the purple-blue mare flattened her ears to her head.

"Of course thy regret it! Bringing eternal night would destroy the crops and drive the population to starvation" The purple-blue mare looked at the dark blue one, with a matter of fact face. The dark blue mare, towering above the purple-blue one smacked her on the head. "You're naive. Celestia banished you to take over your job, and get all the credit." The smaller alicorn rubber the spot on her head. "You're just jealous that she's older. Thanks to all this time, thy finally understood that the ponies don't shun the night, they enjoy it in a subtle way. Without the night, they would drive themselves to death and the plants wouldn't grow." The taller of the two snorted and walked a bit away. "Pulease, the earth ponies can make them grow if they work hard, and if that fails, we can use out magic to make it grow."

The purple-blue alicorn stood up. "We can't just head to every place they grow trees and use our magic. That would be like driving us to death." "Humph, way better than living here." The dark blue alicorn looked away, a smirk across her face. With her mind, she directed the miasma through the blindspot of the purple-blue alicorn. "What are thou...Ahhh!" The smaller alicorn felt something pierce her flank. "Jajajajajajajaja! This time I'll succeed for sure! I'll defeat thou and when this prison ends, I shall bring eternal night!" Pain coursed through the purple-blue alicorn. "Not if...thy can...help it..."

She felt Nightmare attacking her mind, and she knew that her magic wasn't enough this time. _'I won't win this time...if I can place a spell to lock out my mind...'_ "Hah! That spell won't work, thou don't have enough time..." Nightmare(the miasma manifested itself as Nightmare Moon) laughed triumphantly. "Don't underestimate thy!" The horn of the purple-blue alicorn shone brightly a cobalt blue, and with a small blast, finished. "Rahhhhhhh! I'm locked out of the core of her mind! But now I can control your body...I don't know if that was brave of you or stupid, Luna."

* * *

 **(Back at Ponyville)**

 **9:30 am**

The orange coated mare walked down the path towards Fluttershy's cottage, followed by Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash. "How come y'all are followin me?" Rarity decided to answer. "Well, we saw you with this huge cart of apples and figured: she must be headed to Fluttershy's, but the amount of apples is abnormal, and we wanted to check it out." The rest nodded in agreement. "Yep! And also we want to see if Fluttershy found the bunny." Pinkie hopped ahead, knocking very fast on Fluttershy's door. "Fluttershy! We're here!" There was the sound of a falling china, and then a yelp. "Sugarcube, you ok?" Applejack glanced over the window, looking at the shy pegasus' living room, and the door opened a few moments later.

"I-I'm fine. A tea cup just fell." They all looked inside and found the broken tea cup with it's contents spilled on the floor. "I'm really sorry Fluttershy, I'll replace your broken tea cup." She waved a hoof. "Oh...it's ok. Why are you all here?" Applejack spoke up. "They began followin me for some reasons..." "Yeah! I wanted to know what happened to the bunny?" Pinkie Pie shouted. "Well...I couldn't find him..." Fluttershy replied sadly. "Awwww..." Pinkie's smile dropped for a second. "Too bad. Maybe we can find him now that spring's here." "Maybe you're right Pinkie." Fluttershy seemed more joyful now. "Can ya show us where yer friend is so we can delivr the apples?" The orange earth pony asked. The butter colored mare looked down, shuffling nervously. "I don't know...I told him I wasn't going to tell anyone about him..." "Worry not darling, we shall keep this secret and carry it to our graves if we must." Rarity said, placing a hoof on her chest. Pinkie Pie made her mantra "Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!", she even poked her eye with a hoof...painful. Applejack promised not to tell and Rainbow did as well. With a small voice, she told the rest to follow her.

They all walked following Fluttershy, but Applejack struggled to drag the cart. "Hey AJ, need any help?" Rainbow got next to Applejack and hitched herself to the cart. "Now it'll be easier." The farmer smiled. "Thanks Rainbow." They continued in silence, except for Pinky Pie, who sang an unknown song.

 **Aaaaaauuuuuhhhhhhh!**

Every single one of them huddled close to the cart. "That t'was a Timberwolf..." "W-we're not far away...let's hurry to the cave." Fluttershy's trembling voice urged them to move. When they were a few meters from the cave, three Timberwolves surrounded them. "Oh my gosh...what are we to do?" The three wolves circled them, ready to pounce at any moment.

 **ROOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAARRR**

The three wolves looked at the cave, terrified, and slowly backed away, leaving the five ponies standing still. "Jethro!" Fluttershy flew inside the cave. "Fluttershy! Don't go in there!" Applejack called, but was ignored. "What should we do? She went straight to that dangerous creature!" Rarity panicked, not ready to fight. The two pulling the cart unhitched themselves and looked at the cave. "We have to go in there and rescue Fluttershy!" With a unanimous nod, they charged inside. There, it was completely dark, but what made them stop in their tracks was a growling that sent a chill down their spines. Inside, their minds told them to run as far away from there as possible, but their muscles didn't react to them. "Now Jethro, these are my friends. Calm down."

They could hear Fluttershy, but her voice came from deeper in the cave. The growling died down, and after finding their strength back, the four trotted closer to where they heard their friend, finding a bonfire in the middle of a chamber. "Fluttershy, you ok?" Rainbow Dash asked worried. Seconds later, she appeared from a corner of the same chamber. "Girls, this here is Jethro...come out now, they won't hurt you." All of them looked in the same direction, and gasped, Rarity fainted. "Sugarcube, why's a d-dragon here?" The crimson red dragon stepped into the light of the fire, showing himself. "Well...he crashed and hurt himself. I helped him and now he's my friend." They were all skeptical about a nice dragon. "That's true you know. She healed my wing, and now my leg." They all watched as he shook his leg.

"So you won't hurt Fluttershy or us?" Pinkie Pie was up to the dragon's snout, poking it with a hoof and a angry face, and he nodded. "Great! We need to throw you a party!" The rest sighed, not knowing how could she trust so easily.

* * *

 **At Celestia's Castle**

"Princess Celestia, I bring dire news!" The pegasus guard ran in, breathing heavily. "Relax young one, now tell me, what are these news you bring?" Her soft, but regal tone really worked wonders, as the pegasus calmed down. "News from the border. What looks like a squad of dragons flying into Equestria, approximately four." The alicorn looked surprised for a moment. "Thank you. Do not worry, I'll put the best guards on this, you may leave for a rest." The armored pegasus bowed. "Thank you, princess." He left, leaving the princess to her thoughts. _'Why would dragons come to Equestria? To take revenge on what happened 1000 years ago?'_ The princess' horn glowed yellow and a parchment with a quill hovered in front of her. "My dearest sister...Luna..."

* * *

 **(A week later)**

The packing of winter had happened, and they were late to bring spring. The more time passed, the more Fluttershy got worried. "Can you get another cart of apples for Jethro? Wrapping up winter took more than we expected, and we didn't give him food for this many days." The orange mare looked at the sky, thinking. "I could bring it, say, tomorrow mornin by yer house?" This pleased the shy pegasus. "Great, I'll see you tomorrow then." Fluttershy gently flew away. "She's too kind fer her own good sometimes..."

Next day rolled by, and the five of them were walking towards the cave where Jethro was. "He simply must be starving, how come we didn't think about this?" Rarity had gotten over her initial fear and now could mingle with the creature. "We simply forgot, I'm sure he's fine." Rainbow reassured, but mentally she was worried. They all arrived at the cave, and found the empty cart at the entrance. "Jethro! You in there?" Pinkie shouted, but didn't wait long for an answer. "Stay away! I'm a monster." The voice was raspy and didn't sound very well. "Jethro, yeh aint a monster, yer a dragon and our friend. So we're comin in." "Noo!" Fire came out towards the entrance, and they all shrieked, hiding behind some trees. "Jethro, you sound sick...what happened?" Fluttershy was at the entrance of the cave, worry painted all over her face. "Get away Fluttershy...you won't like what I've become..." The shy pegasus looked back at her friends and gestured for them to get closer. "Wait here." She said and walked inside the cave. "Jethro, what do you mean by a *gasp* What happened?" Fluttershy flew close to him and inspected his scales.

Their crimson color was now grey-ish, there were spots where they had completely fallen off, and his horns were cracked, one of them fell off." Get away from me Fluttershy, you shouldn't see me like this." The rest of her friends arrived and were shocked. "What happened to you?" Rarity was trying to contain herself. "Well, this happens when a dragon reaches the end of his life cycle..." Tears welled up in the mare's eyes. "So...this is...the end?" Fluttershy asked between sobs and sniffles. "I'm afraid so Fluttershy...but don't worry, we'll meet again soon..." The sentence broke the last bit of her resolve and she collapsed, hugging his neck while crying. Rarity brought a hoofkerchief with her magic and cleaned her tears; Pinkie Pie joined Fluttershy in hugging Jethro; Rainbow was trying to be strong, but failed miserably and Applejack hid her face under her hat. Using all the strength he could muster, he pushed both mares that were on his neck away. "Well, this is goodbye for now...I'm glad you're here to see this..." The butter colored mare extended a hoof to him, but was stopped by Applejack. "...there's nothin we can do Sugarcube..."

She sniffed, while the shy pegasus kept crying. Jethro walked over to the bonfire he kept in the chamber and laid down around it. At first, nothing happened, but then he burst into a massive flame, swallowing the small fire. Rainbow finally gave in and began to cry softly; while the rest either looked away, or lowered their gazes to the floor, droplets of tears falling on the ground. Five minutes passed until the fire finally died down. In it's place, a pile of ashes lay, bringing sorrow to the five mares. They all turned around and exited the chamber, Fluttershy carried by Applejack.


	3. First Encounter

**Hiiiii! I know, I know. I haven't posted for three weeks, but my studies drained me, and i didn't feel well last week. From now on, my postings will happen every one or two weeks. I added some things I liked and managed to incorporate, so please tell me your opinion. This is the longest one yet 'Yay' and I don't know if more of this size will come, so no promises. The end is fluffy(very) and I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it.**

 **Luna: Micro doesn't own anything, it belongs to it's respective owner.**

 **Celestia: I was told that the next chapter centers more on Luna.**

 **Luna: Really? What is Micro going to to tell about me...I can't wait!**

 **Luna and Celestia: On with the story!**

* * *

 **Bang Bang Bang**

"Jethro, it's mornin! Get yerself out of the hay and come to the farm house, breakfast is ready." Aj rasped at the door loudly while almost shouting. "I'm up, I'm up!" I raised my head and hit myself with the low roof of the barn. **TUNK** "Ouch..." "Hey Jethro, you ok? What happened in there?" I rubbed my head. "Hit myself with the roof, nothing much." There was a pause in her speech. "Alright, but don't you dare pull another one like six months ago!" She yelled and trotted away. _'Don't blame her for being mad at that...'_

* * *

 **~Flashback~**

"Haaaaah..." I stretched and shook myself, getting rid of the ashes on me. _'The first cycle was...strange to say the least. I expected it to be more painful though.'_ After shaking the ashes off, I can see my new scales. _'They haven't looked like this since last week.'_ I test flap my wings, and feel no pain at all. _'Man, I have to thank Fluttershy for this...'_ I walk around the cave looking for Fluttershy, and reach the exit, meeting the five mares on the floor crying. I could hear them sob, and felt real bad. Walking up to Fluttershy, I laid down next to her and wrapped her with my wing. "...Huh..." She looked up at me and she was clearly surprised. "Jethro...I must be dreaming...yes, a bad dream..."

She closed her eyes and looked down, then she tried to get away from me, but I nuzzled her face and wrapped her tightly with my wing. "Nope. This is the real me. Please don't cry..." She wiped her puffy red eyes with her hooves. "Is it really you? - I nodded and her smile dropped - Then explain why did you have to say that dramatic speech about the end of your cycle and not tell us that it you were not going to die?!" She was really mad at me. "Ok...I didn't tell you because it would take a lot of time, one I didn't have before." Applejack kicked me on my side. "What was that for?" She just turned away, not answering. "Well, explain yourself mister." Fluttershy tapped her hoof impatiently on the ground.

"*sigh* Fine. Nyct dragons are not real dragons. Long ago, the original one was a phoenix, a pet to a kind dragon. This dragon had found the abandoned egg and raised it as if it were his own. He would vanish from his den, leaving his mate alone for most of an afternoon. The female thought that he was cheating on her, so she sent someone to follow the male. The one sent to follow saw him with another female and that they were affectionate with each other and conveyed his observations to the female. This enraged her, and she denounced him to other dragons who killed them both. The day of her anniversary, she received a box with holes addressed to her by her late mate."

I took a breath and then continued. "She didn't want anything to do with him, so she swatted the box away, but a whimper came from inside. Curiosity got the best of her, and she opened the box, a small letter signed by the male. She reluctantly opened it, and read as he apologized for not being there for many afternoons. It read that he was caring for a pet he was getting her for her anniversary and how he asked his sister for help. Chirps came from he box again and she removed the lid, revealing the crimson red phoenix. The phoenix flew up to her and nuzzled her. Over the ages, she came to appreciate and love the phoenix called Nyct, and he was blessed by the dragon so he could be her new mate. Since then, Nyct dragons have existed, fusing the best qualities of each."

They all looked too stunned for words. "It seems far fetched, but that's our story. We're dragons, but not at the same time." Applejack was the one to speak up. "We believe yah, but warn us next time when yer gonna burst to flames. You nearly killed Fluttershy." I lowered my ear frills, feeling really sorry for her. "I'm sorry Fluttershy...I won't do that again."

 **~End Flashback~**

* * *

I sat there, reminiscing about the past for too long. There was a single knock at the door, and then someone leaned on it. "Oh, ah don't know...I guess I'll just have to eat Jethro's food since he hasn't come for breakfast..." Applebloom spoke, bringing me back to my senses. "Oh no you don't!" I used my little bit of magic I could muster and transformed myself as fast as I could into a pegasus stallion. Checking that my mane hid my horns, I ran out to the barn house. "I'm here! You can't have my food Applebloom!" There were a few snickers and I looked, noticing that Applebloom was already sitting down at her spot eating peacefully. "Ah know." She glanced up at me, smiled and continued to eat her food. With a sigh I sat down.

"...Good thing we don't have visitrs tahday, or they would've been mihty scared 'bout meetin Nightmare Moon's royal guard..." Granny Smith was laughing while pointing a hoof at my wings; they were ok, same color as my coat and dragon-like... "Shit!" I concentrated a bit and they started to look like pegasus wings. A slam to the table brought me back. "Watch your tongue young'un. As punishment you do the dishes." I hung my head defeated. _'Yep...that's what I get for cussin at the table.'_ They all laughed at my face, and soon enough I started laughing too, seemingly my face could tell I was berating myself. Breakfast continued quietly, until Granny Smith spoke again. "Big Mac, Ah've seen the cows give more milk, and the south-east orchard with more apples that the fruit-batts usually leave...can you think of a reasn?" The red stallion just shrugged and continued to eat. "Dat's true Granny, but Ah can't understand why?" Applejack was curious, speaking between bites of her pancakes.

"Are they more comfortable with Jethro at the barn?" Applebloom threw a suggestion, curious as well, and the look Granny Smith gave me, I felt like she already knew what was happening. "Nope, it's because Jethro sneaks out!" Everyone looked at me, then at Granny Smith surprised. "Yep, you thought dat I didn't notice huh? You found yerself a marefriend to visit?" Applejack looked surprised. "Yeh found yerself a marefriend?! When can we meet 'er?" I thanked the stars that my coat was red, or my blush would have shown. "...I don't know what you're talking about..." I said, but my voice was a little higher than normal. _'Yeah, not suspicious at all...* mental face palm*'_ "Is it that demure shy one, friends with Applejack? The one yeh've been delivern the apples to?" Applejack, who was sitting next to me nearly choked on a piece of pancake. "You're marefriend's Fluttershy? Yah better not try anythin improper..."

This time, I think my blush could be seen. "I wouldn't do that...not without her consent anyway..." The comment ticked her off. "What was that..." Applejack was really close to my face now, if looks could kill, I would have been dead 10 times by now. "I can't do that...she's taken by a nice stallion..." The comment made the murderous aura change from one pony to another. "She has a stallion in her life? Who is he? He must be nice to her..."Her threat, even if it wasn't directed at him, made Big Mac gulp, nobody noticed that by the way. "I wish I knew... - Big Mac noticed my play and relaxed - but by the smell of it, he stays in her living room and has tea." "Well, and how exactly do you know that?" Applejack asked. I pointed at my nose. "Dragons have a strong sense of smell, and hearing too..."

They continued eating, and soon after everyone was finished. "Well, we bettr get to the orchards. Come along Big Mac, the apples won't pick themselves." Applejack was eager to get her work done. "Eeyuup." Big Mac followed suit. Granny Smith left to her rocking chair to knit and Applebloom was looking for her saddlebag. "A sewing kit? Ah don't have a sewing kit in my saddlebag... Wait a second, this ain't my saddlebag..." I stopped cleaning the dishes and turned around. "Don't look in my saddlebag!" I kinda shouted, but it was too late. "Oh, did yah do this?" She had a tapestry on her hooves, the one I was working on last night.

Defeated, I lowered my head. "Yeah, I found the original one in a worn down castle in the Everfree and wanted to fix it to see what it was, but I don't know who's the one with the princess" She inspected it closely. "The work is good, and I can tell apart...Princess Celestia and...Princess Luna? Yah said yah found this in a castle on in the Everfree Forest?" I nodded and she looked surprised. "Ya'll actually found the Castle of the Two Sisters...legends say that it was destroyed." "It is...well, part of it. I've been fixing it up slowly." She sat down with her saddlebag. "Yah plan on leavin us?" She was making those big puppy dog eyes, and I had a hard time looking away. "...Y-yeah. I can't freeload off of you guys for much more. But don't worry, I'll be here every day for breakfast." Applebloom humphed and looked at her summer homework. "You can't even wake up for breakfast here when we call yah, how can yah expect to wake up when yer all alone?"

Her orange eyes pierced my purple ones. I could feel a lump in my throat forming, and talking was suddenly hard. "When I move there, I won't have to stay up late. I'll sleep the whole night and wake up early, instead of staying up most of the night building and sewing." She kept looking down on her notebook, and put her pencil down. "Promise?" I couldn't see her face, but I knew she was sad. "I promise on my fire breath. Now I have to go and help Pinkie Pie with some supplies for the Summer Sun Celebration tonight. Now start on your homework li'll lady." I walked over to the door. "Ok, bye Jethro! See ya tonight!" Applebloom waved a hoof at me and I left, deciding to go for a walk instead of flying to town.

* * *

 **Normal POV**

 _'Why won't the Princess act on what I told her? Does she truly think that the return of Nightmare Moon is a fake?_ ' As the lavender unicorn contemplated this, she got elbowed by her adopted brother, and number 1 assistant Spike. "Twilight, the Princess said you should get friends...maybe the ponies here have interesting things to talk about?" His tone was hopeful, but Twilight had other plans. "No time for that Spike, we need to find a way to stop Nightmare Moon." She looked to the side of the pegasi drawn carriage towards Ponyville, specifically the big oak tree near the cake looking building that functioned as the library. The carriage landed on the ground, and once it stopped, she hopped off and thanked the two Royal Guards who in turn greeted her kindly. The Princess' student was somewhat lost; Spike noticed her dilemma and suggested asking the two incoming ponies for directions. "Why not ask them? They could even be your new friends..."

With a reluctant sigh, she tried asking the pink one, but she gasped loudly and then vanished, leaving a dust cloud behind. "Pinkie! Don't go...running...off...Sorry about that. You don't look familiar... You new around these parts?" Twilight hadn't really paid much attention to the other pony, and her jaw opened. There, hauling a huge cart was a crimson red colored pegasus. "Uhhh..." She was out of words. Although he was a pegasus, he still had the strength of a working earth pony. His mane was spiky, orange in color and looked untamed, but at the same time it looked as if he combed it that way. Then she noticed his purple eyes, that were strangely cat like. "Wow! Twilight look another dragon!" Spike was jumping up and down, while checking out the crimson one.

"Um, li'll dragon, don't blow my cover. I cast a spell that makes me look like a pegasus, strangely you can see my real form. Now, can you stop inspecting me, it feels weird, and the ponies around see something else." The crimson pegasus whispered to him, and he let go of his tail. The lavender mare didn't seem to notice the exchange between the two and shook her head. "Spike, stop bothering him, he's clearly a pegasus. - her tone was stern - Anyway, I'm just here to oversee the Summer Sun Celebration." This made the pegasus stallion smile. "Oh good. I'm Jethro, and this here is the balcony for the princess for the ceremony. I can show you the rest of the preparations if you don't mind...uhhh" He didn't catch her name. "Twilight Sparkle." "Great, Let's go!" He grabbed her hoof and dragged her along, first to Sweet Apple Acres, where he presented the Apples and the catering. Then to Rainbow Dash for the weather; soon after to Town Hall where they met Rarity, and Jethro placed the balcony in it's place. Later that day, they met with Fluttershy, who met Spike and fawned all over him, just like she did with Jethro the first time. She was tempted to reveal his secret, but a shushing sound from him stopped her.

The preparations were all complete, and it was time to head to Town Hall to witness Princess Celestia raise the sun.

* * *

 **(Close to 5:25 am)**

A huge crowd had gathered at Town Hall, anxious to see Princess Celestia raise the sun. The mayor was on the stage, looking at her watch, waiting for the moment; soon the time arrived. "Mares and gentlecolts, it is my pleasure and honor to present the one in charge of raising the sun, Princess Celestia!" The mayor motioned with her hoof to the balcony, and the curtain opened at the same time the bird choir started, but the balcony was empty. ""*Gasp*"" Everyone was surprised, Princess Celestia was nowhere to be seen. "Oh no..." The lavender mare was worried now. _'Where's the Princess?'_ Jethro scratched his cheek curiously, and noticed something wrong. _'Oh no, my spell's about to wear off...'_ Soon he had flown to the boy's bathroom. A whirlwind formed inside the hall, and gained a purple-blue color, until revealing a mare, near black coat, covered in light blue armor and a moon in the chest piece.

"Nightmare Moon, what did you do with Princess Celestia?" Twilight demanded, ready to charge at any moment. "Oh nothing, we have not seen her yet." Nightmare moved a strand of her hair out of her face and said it rather bored. "I won't let you fulfill your promise." "Oh, and how are thou going to stop me? Thou are all alone..." This made Twilight lower her ears. "Bua ha ha ha ha ha! Foolish foal. I SHALL BRING ETERNAL NIGHT!" Behind her, lighting fell, and darkened her image, leaving only her eyes glow in the darkness.

* * *

 **Jethro POV**

 _'Man, that was a close one.'_ After fixing the image spell, I got out of the bathroom. "...I SHALL BRING ETERNAL NIGHT!" I turned my head towards the one speaking: a black mare with wings and a horn, blue armor and a sinister voice. She made lightning fall behind her, for a dramatic effect; but that scene triggered something. _'...Shard...'_ There was a voice in my head. I tried talking, but no words came out of my mouth. _'Who said that?'_ I thought of the question, and received an answer almost immediately. _'I'm your memory guide, as the youngest of your batch, you get your father's memories; and something you lived opened this specific first memory.'_ 'The voice was loud but gentle, similar to my father's. It sounded calm, either it didn't know what was happening or it didn't care, I'm more inclined to the first one.

Time outside me was moving at an agonizingly slow speed, it had almost stopped, and the voice made a screen appear from the middle of nowhere inside my mind. I wonder how this voice was going to make a visual representation without magic, but I was soon shown how. _'Inside your mind, nothing is impossible.'_ I felt being moved until I faced the screen and it started. The video had a yellow-ish color and a few lines in the middle, deduction: it was old. More than a thousand years ago, my father and mother were both here in Equestria. They seemed rather happy, and my mother was followed by two children, a dark green 10 year old male dragon and a 6 year old, cyan blue colored female little dragon; a third egg soon appearing.

They all watched as the two princesses argued for the unempth time. Then, things started to go sour between them, and only my father was present. ~Sister! Thou only wish for my pain!~ Princess Luna was shouting, her teal blue eyes tinted green, I could feel her anger come at me like pulses. ~Nonsense my sister, but I cannot allow the moon to stay up longer, that would destroy the balance.~ Luna's eyes started to return to their natural color, but the green consumed them, fangs growing slightly. ~Blasphemy! The balance was broken many years ago! Now perish!~ A cobalt blue glow surrounded Luna's horn and a strong bolt of magic was blasted towards Celestia, but she repelled it with ease. ~...Luna, please, I do not wish to fight you.~ Celestia looked near ready to burst into tears. ~Too bad for you dear sister!~ The purple-blue alicorn spoke with a sarcastic tone, then she lowered her head so her horn was facing her enemy. It gave a cobalt blue shine and I watched through my father's eyes as her coat began turning almost black, giving off slight green lightning around her. ~I SHALL BRING ETERNAL NIGHT!~Thunder rolled and darkened the place, leaving her green eyes shining.

The fight seemed to continue, but a strong wind blew and interrupted the scene; I couldn't feel it, I could only hear it. _'Wait, wait, wait! What happens next?!'_ I asked frantically, but the voice spoke. _'That's all for now. Live your life young one, and once you unlock another memory, we'll see each other.'_ Soon, the mindscape vanished and I returned to the hall. What I saw gave me an idea, but I didn't know if it would work. "Princess Luna!" I shouted, not completely sure I should be doing this, but I threw caution to the wind. The sea of people parted and I saw her, standing there. "...should I know you?" I shook my head. "Nope, but I remember you. You look taller... And your coat wasn't this black..." She looked at me rather unpleased, displaying her fangs. "And what of it?" I walked over to her, the wood clicked with every step. "Eternal night, that's a bit too much for you Luna; in fact the real Luna would never actually do that." I walked around her in circles and she opened her wings. "Hah! Like thou'd know! I am Luna!" I brought a hoof(claw) to her face and touched her nose. "Wrong! You're not Luna, just an impostor; besides Luna has a purple-blue coat and light blue mane." Her eyes flickered for a millisecond, then they shone brightly green. "I can change my appearance you fool! And there's nothing you can do to stop me." We were now looking at each other's eyes directly, and she pulled away. "I shan't waste my time with the likes of you." She transformed into a mist and vanished.

The ponies at the audience were looking at me strange, murmuring to themselves. Twilight inched backwards to the door and exited. _'Strange, why did she leave?'_ I saunter down and follow her from afar. "And where do you think your going?" Rainbow was flying around then she landed in front of Twilight. "Well...I uh...need to go!" Twilight ran past her and left. "Why I ought to..." "Sup girls." I casually walked by. "Jethro. What was that all about?" Pinkie Pie was asking. "Yes darling, there must be a reason for everything you did..." I was trotting away. "No time for that, Twilight knows a way to stop Nightmare Moon, and bring back Princess Luna."

* * *

 **(Back at Golden Oak Library)**

"Spike! Get me the book on Elements of Harmony! Spike..." Sadly, her number 1 assistant was collapsed on the stairs, sleeping. "Oh Spike, you did great today, now rest. You're a baby dragon after all..." She used her magic, placed him on his bed and covered him with a blanket, then she kissed his forehead. She exited her room and proceeded downstairs. Twilight levitated various books in front of her searching for something. "No...no...no...no!" "Twilight! What's going on? What's this deal about Elements of Harmony? How did you know about Nightmare Moon?" Rainbow was up in her face, demanding angrily. "Rainbow, give her some space, she'll tell us." Applejack was smiling towards Twilight, who looked really scared now. "*sigh* Fine. I read the legend of Nightmare Moon and came here to try and stop her, but the only things that can stop her are the Elements of Harmony. Sadly, I don't know what they are, where they are or what they do!" They all looked at her, smiling. "Darling, why didn't you say that sooner, we could help you look for whatever it is you're looking for." The six mares shared a hug. "Great! We need to find something about the Elements."

They all broke apart like pool balls and searched the library, seconds later, Pinkie Pie came to Twilight with a book. "Here it is!" She shoved the book onto Twilights hooves. "The Elements of Harmony, a reference guide. Pinkie, how did you find it so fast?" She hopped away. "It was under Eeeee!" She sing songed. "The Elements of Harmony. There are six elements, but only five known to pony kind: Kindness, Laughter, Honesty, Generosity, and Loyalty. The sixth is a complete mystery, when the known five are together a spark will cause the sixth to be revealed. Their last known location was the ancient home of the two sisters...that means that they are in the Castle of the Two Sisters...deep in the Everfree Forrest!" They all looked scared now. "B-but...that place is dangerous..." Fluttershy was shivering behind Applejack. "Girls, we have to go; if we don't, we'll never see the sun again!" With new vigor, they exited the library. "Hey! Where are you going?" The crimson pegasus asked them. "There's no time!" Twilight tried to push past, but he grabbed her. "Make some time. Where are you going?" Twilight saw the slits on his eyes narrow more, and she gulped. "...We're going to the Castle of the Two Sisters in the Everfree Forrest where the Elements of Harmony are, and if you don't let us go we'll never see the sun again."

She tried to free herself from his grip, but found his strength absurd. "I could take you faster..." He said, but was interrupted. "Not to put a damper on your plan Jethro, but we all know I'm the fastest one around here." Rainbow was boasting a well known fact. "True, but you can't take all other five at the same time. I on the other hand, could take all of you in one go." The rainbow colored mare's ears dropped. "Oh right...forgot that..." "How can you take all six of us? You're no bigger than an average pegasus stallion!" Twilight was mad. "T-twilight...you don't know this, but he's not a pegasus..." Fluttershy interjected and a look of incredulity crossed Twilight's face. "Really? If you haven't noticed, We're talking about a PEGASUS for Celestia's sake!"

The five looked at each other and got to a consensus. Rarity then looked at Jethro. "Go on darling, we'll wait here." Jethro looked around and received encouraging nods from the five so he walked behind the library. "What will happen, he'll come out with a cos...tume..." The words she wanted to say died in her throat, behind the library came a crimson dragon seven feet long. "..." Twilight had no reply. "Come on let's go. Fluttershy, you climb on my back this time." With no time wasted, the demure pegasus flew to his neck and held on for dear life, while the other four got in front of him. He grabbed them and lifted off, leaving a gaping Twilight watching. "Here we go!" He grabbed Twilight with his tail by her stomach and flew towards the castle. "AHHHHH!". Twilight shouted for a few minutes, completely scared.

* * *

The trip took less time than walking there, and he alighted down a few meters in front of the entrance of the castle. "This doen't look soo abandoned tah me. Is this were yeh sneaked off ta?" Applejack inspected the place, the rest were in awe. "Yeah, this is my home now, well the east wing. I'm fixing up the west side now." He walked over and left the place to a room on the right. "Ok girls, we need to get the elements on the ground, so I can try and activate them." They all worked and got the stones from their perch to the ground. "I don't know what'll happen, so stand back." Not really wanting to see first hand what she was about to do, they all left the hall leaving the lavender unicorn to herself.

With a soft purple glow, her horn shone, starting to encompass the five stones. Her eyes shut for concentration, she didn't notice the swirl of purple-blue mist surrounding the stones and creating a whirlwind. She then felt the wind and opened her eyes, realization reaching her. She jumped forward just in time, as the tornado shrunk and vanished. "No!" She shouted, and the five other mares heard. "Twilight!"

* * *

When she came back, she found herself in a throne room, but this one didn't look like the previous one. There were no windows, but the rugs were bright and pristine; a chandelier with fresh candles hung from the high celling; accompanying the chandelier were banners with many things: one had an image of Princess Celestia, the other of a purple-blue alicorn, which Twilight couldn't identify, and a big one with the both of them. Twilight observed with amazement as more banners were on the walls, depicting the many different tales she had read about in the book 'Legends of Equestria'. "Who has done this?" Twilight turned herself and found Nightmare Moon gazing at the banners. She walked down the wall and found one that made her stop, it was her own banishment, but what made her stop wasn't the fact that it was portrayed, but that Celestia's face was downcast.

"The Elements!" Twilight ran to them, and tried to cause the spark. "NO!" Nightmare Moon shouted, appearing in front of Twilight, and effectively scaring her away. Little sparks flew between the stones, but they soon vanished. "Jajajajajaja! Foolish foal! Thou've failed!" With a stomp, the five stones broke to pieces. Twilight was horrified.

 **BOOOM!**

A wooden door flew between them and a dragon tumbled until stopping upside down between them. Turning his head he saw Nightmare. "Luna, or should I say Nightmare...can't you see what harm you'll bring?" He righted himself up and circled her the same way he did in the Town Hall. "Bringing night eternal will only make things worse." Jethro tried to convince her with the argument, but it was ineffective. The feeling Nightmare felt back at the Town Hall returned, but a few times worse. She steadied herself and glared at Jethro. "Thou wouldn't know that! Thou never felt the rejection of thy subjects. They never even gave credit to thy job!" Wings unfurled open and she made a thunder crash. "No, I didn't. But I know that there are many ponies today that actually enjoy the night. In fact, this mare behind me knows a lot about stars, she has various telescopes at her place just to watch them." Even as her eyes remained green, their slitted shape gradually changed to normal pupils. "You let hatred consume you, but today, sea travels only happen at night with the guidance of the stars, some tell fortunes with them and a lot of ponies like to find shapes in them."

The words weighed her down like bricks, and he delivered his final words. "Why not drop this vendetta and return to us as the Princess of the Moon?" He felt like driving in the final nail, but it backfired. "Thou wants me to return and be rejected again?! Insolent draconian, you have no word in this!" Her horn shone cobalt blue and she blasted him with magic, sending him tumbling to a wall. The roof wasn't stable there and it colapsed on top of him, rendering him unconscious. "Jethro!" Twilight was about to run to him, but didn't. "Twilight! We're comin!" From behind her, the other five were shouting down the hall. There at that very moment, she felt the spark. "You think you can destroy the Elements of Harmony just like that?" The statement Twilight said made Nightmare stagger back, and in that moment the other five entered the room. "Well, you're wrong! The elements are all right here!" The six mares shone brightly and their respective elements formed as necklaces on each, except for Twilight who had a crown. "No...stop! You don't know the consequences of using such powerful magic..." A rainbow colored beam was shot at Nightmare from the six and she inched back. "No...no...Nooooo!" It struck her in a brilliant display of lights. The six mares glided down and ogled her new jewelry.

"Jethro." Twilight ran to the back of the room and when the rest saw the rubble joined her. "We have to help him!" Fluttershy was using all her power to lift a large piece, but failed. Twilight and Rarity tried using her magic, but they didn't have enough magic, strangely, it was absorbed. The sun rose, and Princess Celestia appeared on the room. She watched as Nightmare's shape turned back to Princess Luna, and the miasma vanished. "Oh no..." Luna saw Celestia, and tears formed in her eyes. As the emotive scene unfolded, both sisters were drawn to the ruckus behind them. Luna's face fell and she ran towards them. Using her magic, she quickly moved the pieces of roof and once all were cleared, she used her magic on him. Twilight charged, but a white wing stopped her. "Just look Twilight." Looking, she recognized the spell, a high level healing spell. "Uhh..." With a groan Jethro opened his eyes.

"Thank Celestia thou are ok...weren't thou a dragon?" Celestia raised a brow at that. "Hehe, transformation magic..." "Oh..." Luna continued her magic and a minute later finished. "Luna, thanks..." He thanked her in a bare whisper, and that made her smile. He stood up, but didn't have the strength to stay up and tumbled towards her. Luna moved a hoof over her her shoulder and walked towards Fluttershy, who was flying to them. "Here thou go...Let him rest." Luna handed Jethro over and walked over to Celestia, tears returning again to her teal orbs. "I'm soo sorry...can you ever forgive me?" The smaller purple-blue alicorn nuzzled the taller white one and looked pleadingly at her. "Of course Luna, I already have, and I'm sorry too...Welcome home." Celestia nuzzled back and placed a wing over her.

* * *

Later that day, the six mares(Mane Six), Jethro and the both princesses were at Ponyville for the festivities. Everyone greeted Luna with open hooves and some fillies even placed a flower necklace on her, a small bit of Luna's heart healed that day. Soon it was time to leave, and Celestia came to her student. "Twilight, it's time to leave." _'What! But I don't want to leave now...'_ Twilight's reaction was the one Celestia expected. "Princess Celestia, you sent me here to watch over the preparations of the Summer Sun Celebration, and I planed on returning to Canterlot as fast as I could and continue my studies in magic. After everything that happened, I got new friends, and I don't want to leave them...Is that ok? I don't want you to think that I don't want to be with you, but parting with my friends is something I don't want to do..." Twilight was looking down, tears threatening to fall.

"Lift your face Twilight. There's no need to feel sad." Celestia hugged her with a hoof and then smiled. "Spike, take note. I, Princess Celestia, hereby decree that my faithful student Twilight Sparkle will continue to expand her friendships and learn more about the magic of friendship here in Ponyville. She is to send me reports on what she learns." A smile grew on her face, and the Mane Six all hugged each other. A little farther away, Jethro watched.

* * *

 **(A small distance away from the Mane Six)**

"Excuse me." A soft, melodic voice caught his attention. "Yes?" Jethro craned his head towards the angelic voice he heard. "Princess Luna!" He dropped to his knees and lowered his head. "Please stand." He did as told and stood, almost a quarter of a head taller. "Why are thou now using such formalities? When thy was under the influence of Nightmare Moon, thou never used thy title." Jethro scratched his head sheepishly. "Well, you weren't the real you, the Princess Luna from a thousand years ago, back then, so I didn't find use in titles..." Jethro laughed a bit, nervously, and looked at her crown, her mane, but not directly at her eyes. "But what is the difference now?" Luna interrupted him, and he felt at a loss of words. "...Well...you're now the Princess of the Moon, and deserve such respect." A giggle bubbled in her throat and she smiled at him. "Just between the both of us, thou can call me Luna, draconian." Jethro was surprised. "Jethro is what thou're called, right?" Not knowing what to say, he nodded.

"Well, thou managed to pull the wool over thy sister's eyes, but thy remember as clear as a cloudless night the feeling of being near a draconian. Thy can't say the same for thy sister, but thou gave the same feeling thy remember." His excuses were narrowing to a point where he didn't have any, but she didn't threaten him. "Thy will keep thou'r secret. And...could thy...send letters? That way thy could...chat with a friend with similar, um...dilemmas..." She looked up through her mane while facing down and her cheeks were dusted with a touch of pink. He replied with a gentle smile. "Of course prin...I mean Luna." Her smile grew and Jethro felt his nervousness grow. _'I'm now pen-pals with Luna...can it get any better?'_

"Luna, it's time to go." Celestia called. The white alicorn stood near the carriage looking at her sister who was speaking to the pegasus from the castle. _'What could she be talking about?'_ She watched as her little sister fluttered to the carriage and hopped on happily. "Well, someone's in a happy mood." Luna was smiling and when Celestia got on, she ushered the pegasi to go very fast. Celestia was leaning on her chair awkwardly because of the sheer speed of the carriage and soon started laughing. "Jajaja! Luna, slow down! You haven't made a carriage go this fast in ages!" She sat straight and looked over at her sister, who had a huge grin on her face. "I missed this!" Celestia sighed happily and leaned back, watching Luna with an amused smirk. "Something good happen?" The Princess of the Sun asked, and the Princess of the Moon nodded. "I made a new friend!" She shouted back and led the carriage back to Canterlot at full speed. _'I'm amazed she made friends with somepony after everything that happened...good for her.'_ As she thought this, a gentle smile graced elder sister's lips.


	4. Letters and Preparations

**Yoooooo! I fell asleep writting this last night, so I bring you the chapter a tad late. Hope you enjoy!**

 **Luna: Micro! The chapter is ok, but thou forgot something!**

 **MR: What did I forget again?**

 **Luna: Uhhhh!**

 **Jethro: Micro own nothing, except maybe the title and plot. Everything else is of its respective owner.**

 **Luna:Jethro! Thy've been meaning to send a letter..."**

 **MR: No time for that! This will continue in the story!**

 **Celestia: On with the story!**

 **Luna and Jethro: Where was she all this time?**

* * *

Luna sat at her desk that overlooked a window with a beautiful sunrise outside, a parchment on it and a quill floating over it surrounded by a cobalt blue glow. After raising the moon and placing the stars the previous night, she finished her paperwork and sat down, intent on sending her first letter. Sadly, a thousand years away made her loose the grasp of communicating through letters. She struggled to write something that didn't sound weird, or too formal. "Ahhhhh - she yelled frustrated - Why cannot thy write anything!" Balling up the scribbled mess of parchment, she lobbed it towards her increasingly large pile on a corner. ' _Three weeks it has been, and thy have not sent a single letter. He must think thy forgot..._ ' With slumped shoulders she placed her quill on its place and walked over to her bed, laying down on her dark blue comforter, her mane sprawled around her. She pondered while looking at the celling, until an idea popped in her head. "...Thy could tell him about my day, and then ask about his." She jumped out of her bed and eagerly grabbed the quill again with her magic, writing about her many tasks she did in a night. When reading it again, she groaned in defeat. " ' _Tis useless! Thy cannot write about my duties without sounding self centered!'_

She slammed her head on her desk, and rested it there. "Luna?" The purple-blue alicorn turned around fast at her sister's voice. "Tia! What are thou doing here?" She spoke nervously and used a hoof to push a book over the letter she was writing. "I wished to talk to you." Celestia sat down on her bed and patted the place next to her. Luna silently walked over to her bed and sat down next to her sister, looking down to her silvery white slippers. "How have you been?" "Thy've been fine, better than being banished to the moon." They both laughed, but it died down pretty fast. "How do you feel about being back to your duties?"' _Why is Tia beating around the bush? She obviously came to ask something else._ ' Luna looked at her, and sighed. "Tia, why did thou come to my chambers? And why are thou beating around the bush, as 'tis said? It certainly was not to ask...this." Celestia smiled defeated. "Well, you saw through me. I know you'll dread talking about this, but I came to talk about...him." Celestia was serious, and Luna stuttered through her words with a red face.

"Him!? There's nothing...it's just..." The purple-blue alicorn twiddled her hooves embarrassed. "I know, it's just that I want to know what happened between you and Sombra just before we banished him to the north. You were burnt and lying on the ground, and never liked to discuss that before your banishment..." The princess' mouth fell open. ' _That's it?_ ' She released a long sigh. "That... Thy found him a few minutes before, and tried talking to him, but he was too lost to the dark magic. He began shooting magic at me, and when thy got distracted, he blasted me in the chest. The armor Thy had broke and thy got burned. Soon after, thou arrived, and thou know what happened." ' _Thy cannot tell her about that._ ' Celestia hummed.

"I've been dying to know that for more than 1000 years, you know? Thanks."' _There's something else, but why won't Luna tell me?_ ' The white alicorn stood up and walked to the balcony in the room, outstretching her wings to fly. "You know Luna, you can just ask him about his days, or even his past; there's no need to talk about yours. It will come up later." With a bewildered look, she spoke. "How does thou know about that?" Celestia placed a hoof over her mouth. "You used your Canterlot voice." With a giggle she flew away. "Curses!" Luna walked around her room, fixing her bed and discarding the pile of parchments into the trash can. Exhausted, she sat down and finally wrote the letter, pleased with the simplicity, but worried that it was maybe too simple.

* * *

 **Normal POV (Ponyville)**

Twilight was in her basement, a machine rigged up to Jethro. "With this, I'll be able to read your magical energy...theoretically." Jethro gulped. "Theoretically?" Twilight hummed and placed some goggles on. "Yeah, this is a prototype, and I've never tested it before. After your transformations, I wanted to know how much magic you have, and came up with this contraption." Twilight walked around it and pressed a few things. "You won't tell anyone about me being a dragon, right?" The lavender mare smiled sympathetically. "Of course I won't. You'r secret is safe with me." She stood up, closed her eyes and began. "Cross my heart, and hope to fly. Stick a cupcake in my eye." Jethro released a breath and the mare began turning on the machine, hiding behind a desk. "...it's working...It's working!" The machine drew on paper, like the seismic detectors. "Your magic is very faint, almost inexistent...I wonder why?" Soon, the contraption started acting funny: it started beeping rapidly, then shaking violently. "Twilight..." Jethro was worried now, and he didn't feel good. "You're having a magic spike!" She ran and tried to stop the machine before something bad happened, or worse, it exploded. "It's no use, it's stuck!"

"Twilight, I don't feel so good..." Jethro looked like he was about to puke. "Not in here! Don't puke down here!" From outside, Spike looked at the stairs with sadness. "I'll be the one cleaning..."

 **GRROOOOOOOAAAAAAHHHHHHHH**

Once he was done, Twilight expected to be covered in dragon puke, but nothing happened. Opening one eye, she saw the broken machine. "It'll take days to fix this...but the data was saved." In her hooves he held the graph paper, it showed that when it exploded his magic surpassed even ten times his original amount. "Jethro! That was great! Jethro?" She watched as he laid on the floor tired. "Man...that was awful." Jethro rubbed his stomach. "What happened?" Twilight asked, but his attention was elsewhere, he took some time to answer. A few feet in front of him, a rolled up parchment was on the floor. "I felt like puking really bad, then burped." She helped him stand and he looked at the floor. "Twilight, a parchment fell from the explosion." He picked it up and looked at it curiously. It was neatly rolled, with a seal on where the end of paper met the roll. The seal was dark blue, a crescent moon stamped on it.

Twilight looked at it. "Strange, I can't remember having seen this seal on anything I have...it's not mine." Something at the back of his mind told him to open it, so he did. ~From Luna.~ With glee, he rolled it and stuffed it in his saddlebag. "It's for me." Twilight inspected the parchment. "You just received a letter from someone just like Spike! Who's it from?" He smiled. "Just a friend of mine. Thanks again Twilight, for everything." He walked out and left her alone. ' _I've seen that seal before...but where?'_

* * *

 **With Luna (7:45 pm)**

"Well, thy have finished raising the moon, and placing the stars. The night sky looks perfect." Luna smiled proudly of her work. ' _Has he seen the letter?_ ' Her thoughts roamed many different places, but she dismissed them. With nothing else to do, Luna walked into her room and laid on her bed with her ethereal mane flowing behind her looking at the roof, thoughts of her imprisonment floating about. ' _Thy wonder why..._ ' She closed her eyes for a moment, focusing on the memory. After her encounter with Nightmare Moon, she felt like falling to a dark bottomless pit.

It was cold and quiet, but soon after there was a gentle humming to a song she had never heard before, but it was calming, and she could feel the kindness of the one who sang it. At a distance, there was a faint light that produced a small amount of warmth, just like the sun. She felt like she kept falling, but that small speck of warmth, light and hope never increased its distance. Did that speck of warmth fall with her, or did she not fall at all? She never knew, but that kept her alive. Soon she opened her eyes, as a tinkling sound rang inside the room.

* * *

 **With Celestia**

"Ahhhh, nothing like a warm cup of cocoa before sleeping." Celestia licked her lips appreciatively, lapping up the small chocolate mustache formed on her muzzle by her drink. "Thank you Strawberry, your hot cocoa is delicious as always." Celestia's maid, Strawberry Creme, who has a yellow coat with a strawberry colored mane smiled. "Thank you for the praise Princess." She bowed and received the cup. "I shall turn in for tonight. Thank you for your service Strawberry." With a nod received, Celestia left for her room. While walking down the corridor, she stopped and gazed at the sky, the moon and stars in all their glory. "I could never make the night sky look this beautiful. Hope you can see the beauty you create every night Luna..." Just as the white alicorn turned around, a magical smoke surrounded her. ' _A letter for me, at this time?_ ' She used her magic to open the letter, but it dodged her magic and darted off. ' _What the..._ '

The smoke floated away, dodging walls and going around guards. ' _Who could have sent that letter and to whom?_ ' Celestia galloped behind the letter, sometimes using her wings for more agility. "Princess!" A pegasus guard called worried when she passed him. "Don't worry about me, just chasing a letter. You can go back to whatever you were doing." With a shrug, the pegasus guard walked around the corner and moments later a bat pony took his place. "Where is the letter going?" Some time later, a few turns more, and she was met with a tall pair of dark blue double doors. ' _For Luna?_ ' "*Gasp*" Celestia heard her sister gasp, and she flattened her ear on the door.

* * *

Opening her eyes, she saw the magical smoke floating above her and with her magic summoned the letter. "*Gasp*" She unrolled it quickly and turned on a small candle next to her bed. She fixed her mane so it didn't get in the way. ~For: Luna. What can I say about myself...not much really. I was born in a small village on the mountains close to the southern plains. At home, mom and dad always smiled, for even the smallest thing. I am the youngest of the three, with an older brother and sister. Mom and dad were always happy, and my sister and I grew with that bit, the oldest brother was kind of the black sheep. When we were all grown, mom and dad had to leave for some business a few hundred miles away, but they never returned...someday we'll meet again. I then lived as a repairer, and after I graduated from that I began my apprenticeship as a builder. There were some bad things happening around the village I lived on, so I left. Soon after I was found by Fluttershy, the pink maned pegasus friends with Twilight, and she made friends with me. I've lived in secret in pony society as a pegasus for the past six months. That's been my life story, resumed. I'm sorry if I cut this letter short, but receiving the letter has been painful and it drained my energy, besides all the crazy things happening here. I'll be going to sleep now, so how about for the next letter you send, you tell me a little bit about yourself? Your friend from Ponyville, Jethro.~

With a smile, she placed the letter on her desk with her magic while flying towards her door in relative silence. Opening her door, she found an anxious Celestia fixing her feathers. "Sister, art thou alright? Had a bad dream?" Celestia shuffled nervously. "Luna! I was just...walking around..." Luna watched Celestia: she was panting; her mane didn't look as beautiful as always, it was standing in awkward places; her wings were a bit twitchy; and her face was covered in sweat. "Right...thou should tell me the truth. Thou're art a bad liar." "Fine. I saw the smoke with your letter. It first stopped around me, but since it wasn't for me, when I tried to open it it flew here. I wanted to know who was it for." Luna smiled. "It was the letter thy sent this morning before bed. He answered it." Luna walked inside her room with Celestia in tow. "So, what did you do? Did you ask him like I told you?"

"Thy did what thou suggested, and he responded. Thy was planning on answering tomorrow and sending it to him...although he mentioned something about having a painful letter delivery..." ' _Poor Spike. He must be resting..._ ' Celestia thought, then smiled. "Don't worry Luna, I'll help you so you can send the letter without causing pain." Luna smiled. "Thanks Tia!" The smaller alicorn hugged her sister and the white alicorn hummed, thinking about something else. Celestia always found the dark blue mane of her sister extremely similar to the night. "You know, I love what you did with the night sky today Luna...keep it up." Celestia stepped out into the balcony and flew away to her room, landing on her own balcony and opening the door with her magic. Luna stepped out as well and looked at her sister. "Good night sister. Sweet dreams."

Celestia nodded with a smile, the tiredness showed through her facade, and she entered her room. Luna then headed to the throne room, where a few bat ponies stood guard. "Princess - both guards bowed in respect, then raised their heads - As today you have no visits to the court, Princess Celestia left some books so you can catch up on some things." The bat pony approached her with a few books and she floated one up to her with her magic. "Ecuestrian Tax Law...Volume 1...of 4" Luna groaned audibly, her ears dropping. ' _Thy hate tax laws!_ ' "I know tax laws aren't the Princess' favorite subject, but you must know them as our ruler." The bat pony left the books next to her throne and descended, returning to its original spot. ' _Thy know that, but thy still hate them._ ' With another long sigh, she opened the book and began reading.

* * *

"If a pony pays more than the 10% over the debt, then the bank(state) must pay the tax return of 12% to compensate for the overpaid amount." Luna placed the book on a table next to her and massaged her temples. "Thy will die if thy keep reading all this tax mumbo jumbo." Stretching, the Moon princess walked down her seat and proceeded towards the kitchen. "Princess!" A bat pony emerged from a corner of the halls, pushing a cart. "It's time for your midnight lunch." (Since Luna sleeps in the day, I think lunch at midnight would be appropriate) "Oh good. Thy have been feeling a bit peckish." She walked back to an observation balcony close to the throne room and began eating.

The unicorns in Canterlot had made for a warm, partly cloudy night. There were scattered clouds, flowing about with the breeze, revealing the stars that shone with confidence. A comfortably warm breeze swept by, Luna stopped eating and opened her dark blue wings to receive the warm air and let it surround her. Soon, that updraft carried many dandelion seeds to the sky, and with it a familiar feeling. Closing her eyes, Luna focused and found it to be an erratic magical flow; it was from a dream, but it didn't seem like a good one. Her horn glowing a bright cobalt blue, she entered the realm of dreams from where she could access the dreams of ponies. She searched between the many ponies that lived in the vecinity, and found the source of the erratic magic. The door that led to this particular dream was of regular height, but the trimmings looked similar to a mix of a sun and a moon in gold and silver respectively. ' _This is Tia's dream...What troubles her so?_ ' Opening the door, she stepped in.

In her dream, Luna could see her sister a ways away, looking at something. The dream walking mare approached her, and heard a song with the same melody as her memories. Celestia was looking at a screen that floated in front of her, paintings of the two sisters. "~Soon did that pony take notice that others did not pay her sister her dues...and neither had she loved her as she deserved, she watched as her sister's unhappiness grew.~" At the end of the verse, the Luna from the dream slammed the door in Celestia's face, and she slowly walked away. Celestia was trying to get in the way of the Celestia in the dream, but she couldn't. ' _Tis no dream, it's a nightmare..._ ' Luna thought to herself. "~...and that foolish pony did nothing to stop, the destruction of one who needed her most...~" There was a scene change, and now they were outside, Celestia fighting with Luna, transformed into Nightmare Moon. Celestia crashed through a window through a window of the castle into the throne room. Nightmare was about to pounce on her, but Celestia used the fallen Element of Magic, creating a blast that repelled Nightmare Moon, sending her to the moon. She cried, the one from the dream and the real one, both looking at the moon. ' _Thy have to stop this._ ' Luna determined it was enough suffering for her sister. A bright light came into the dream and it soon changed.

* * *

Luna opened her eyes, to find a few bat ponies around her worried and a maid. "Art thou alright?" She asked. "Princess, we were worried when you just stopped eating and stayed still, your eyes shining bright." The youngest of the bat ponies with her said. "I told you she was fine. Were you in the dream realm?" Strawberry Creme, Celestia's maid asked. "Yes thy was." The bat ponies returned to their places relieved and Strawberry Creme removed the empty plate. "Why art thou heare, Strawberry? Should thou not be sleeping?" The yellow mare smiled sympathetically while grabbing a small harp. "I'm on my way to Princess Celestia's room. She's been having nightmares ever since I began working here and a song of a harp usually calms her sleep." Luna smiled. "Thy have given her a surprise..." She whispered, and Strawberry didn't hear.

* * *

The days rolled by quickly, and soon three months had passed. Celestia had waken Luna from her slumber to talk about a festivity. "Tia...why hath thou waken me from thy slumber?" Luna sat next to her sister, struggling to stay awake, shielding her eyes from the sun with a hoof. "Well, this year's Nightmare Night is a few days away, and I wanted to tell you that the preparations were made so you go to Ponyville. I thought since you were there as Nightmare, maybe showing the towns folk your true self could reduce their aversion from you, just like you've been doing here in Canterlot, even if it's for one night." "Tia, thy don't wanna go. Ponies will cower in fear and run away from me like usual..." Luna moved her mane out of her face, the ethereal effect starting to wane. Celestia looked at her stunned. " 'Tis true!" Luna argumented.

"Luna, you just used a contraction...since when?" The younger of the two scratched her head at the question. "Thy've been practicing with the help of Jethro modern vernacular for almost two months now, 'tisn't a big deal." "Well, I'm certainly impressed. If this keeps up, you'll talk like a regular pony in no time." Celestia continued on, but Luna was thinking of other things. _'Will he use this day to look like his true self, or use magic?_ ' "...Luna!" "What?!" The called alicorn responded surprised. "I said you should go to Ponyville, getting out of the castle will surely help your problem. Also, you could meet with Jethro and have a chat face to face, save you from the ordeal of writing." This brought a smile to her face. "Thou know what, Thy might just do that..." Celestia moved forward and caught her sister, who had fallen asleep from exhaustion. "Hehehe, rest now my sister. Meeting your friend after some time will help strengthen the friendship you have. I hope you have fun." Celestia spoke out her thoughts while carrying her sister to her room.

* * *

 **Somewhere else.**

There was a dark cave, damp, riddled with critters, and water dripped from the celling. "God damn it. I told you not to come here! Your breath is almost putrid." The creature bowed. "My apologies master. I just came to inform you that my underlings found the missing dragon in Timberwolf Forrest." The dark colored creature unfurled his wings and smirked. "And here I thought the three I sent would be sufficient, I was wrong about him." The winged creature walked towards the opening of the cave, basking in the moon's light. "Should I send another group to hunt him down?" The suggestion came and the winged one growled at him. "No! Don't you dare harm him. I'll savor the hunt of that traitor. I'll show him." Closing his wings, he walked inside. "Master!" Another creature entered. "What is it you want Chang?" Chang stepped inside and removed the guard helmet he wore. "The Moon Princess is struggling with her daily lives, but word around the castle is that she'll head to a small town called Ponyville for Shadow Night, and meet someone called Jethro." A wicked grin crossed the winged creature's face. "Return to your spying post Chang, and inform us of everything you can." The phony guard bowed. "As you wish, master Gary." The armor clad phony walked away from the cave. The winged creature licked it's lips, the sharp tips protuding from his mouth. "Well, we'll meet again after all this time…brother."


	5. Festivities and the Encounter

**Ohayoooo! This chapter is three days late, but I hope that the length compensates your wait. I had a licence test and I needed to study, I had to pay $100 for it. Now that its out of the way, I can return to my two week schedule.**

 **Celestia: This chapter was a bit graphic at the end...the violence was harsh.**

 **MR: I needed a dramatic scene, and this was the best I came up with.**

 **Luna: Thy must agree with Tia. You hurt Jethro too much in this chapter.**

 **Shard: I'm ok. Nothing can hurt me more than that bastard. Besides, it was good to see a good friend.**

 **Luna: Aww, thy think thou are a good friend too.**

 **Pinkie Pie: MR owns nothing...(whisper)**

 **Celestia: Alright, stop the chit chat. Proceed with the story!**

* * *

-"You say that you love her for who she is, inside and out, but do you know what that truly implies?"-

* * *

Back in Ponyville, Jethro hatched what could possibly be the best idea ever for Nightmare Night, but he was going to need help; and that's why he was flying away from town and headed to Sweet Apple Acres. The mornings had started to cool down and it took some time to warm the day, but the coolness was refreshing for someone who breathed fire. He had come for breakfast this morning, then left towards town to work. While working, he kept thining about what to do, and an old legend came to mind. _'I can't tell Twilight, or the others... I know! I'll ask Apple Bloom and her friends!'_ Once he landed in front of he barn house, he knocked. There was a low chatter coming from inside, probably the Mane Six. The door opened to reveal Applejack.

 **Jethro POV**

"Hi AJ. You know where the Crusaders are?" She looked at me curiously, then scratched her chin. "They ain't round hear. Did yah try their club house out back?" _'Of course!'_ "Thanks AJ. I'll check there now." I walked out from under the porch roof and flew over the house towards the back. It wasn't that complicated to find the clubhouse, it was white with a pink roof surrounded by green, the colors made it stand out more than a sore claw. I hovered next to their window and tapped on it. Sweetie Belle opened the window and stuck her head out. "Hey Jethro! What are you doing here?" At the question, the other two came to the window and poked their heads out. "Well, I need your help, but you can't tell anypony about it."

The CMC shushed themselves and opened the door for me. I flew to the entrance and walked inside, closing the door behind me. They had closed all the blinds and were sitting on a semi-circle waiting for me. Sitting down I began. "Ok, this is what I need help with." I placed a piece of paper in front of them, and Apple Bloom nearly hurt Scootaloo with all the shaking she gave to her shoulder. "Are theas the plans for a haunted house for Nightmare Night!?" I nodded and the three yelled. "Cutie Mark Crusaders Haunted House Explorers!" _'You gotta love their enthusiasm.'_ I thought. "No, I need your help scaring people in the haunted house, you know...be a part of it..."

The three looked at each other and grins got plastered on their faces. "CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS PROFESSIONAL SCARERS!" This time they yelled louder. I lowered my head trying to cover my ears with my claws, but it was useless. "Ok. Now that it's settled, why don't the three of you have a sleepover at my house tomorrow? Since its Friday, we can plan more about the haunted house while you three have fun." "YAYYY!" I covered my ears again. "Sorry about that Jethro. We were just exited. We're getting to have a sleepover at the princess' castle." "Yeah, we remembered a movie we saw a few weeks back, that the character's job was to make ponies scream." Scootaloo interjected. "Yeah, it was calld...Monsterpony Inc." Apple Bloom said.

The three went on about what to do, meanwhile, l looked at them smiling. "You three have to ask your sisters." They quickly stopped talking and started pushing me towards the door. "Why are you pushing me?" Apple Bloom face hoofed. "Because we need you to confirm it and show that we didn't force it." Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo said in unison. The three kept pushing. "Ok, ok. Let's go." I began walking and the three ran ahead of me towards the farm house. When I arrived Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom were talking to their sisters and Scootaloo with Rainbow. "Jethro, tis true that the sleepover was yer suggestn?" I answered afirmatively and she sighed. "I can watch them for the whole weekend, if you don't mind." The girls looked at each other, then at me. "Are you sure about that?" I nodded and the older sisters sighed. "I don't know if you fillies can stay with him..." The CMC were looking at them expectantly. "Look at it this way: you have a whole weekend just for yourselves. I can pick them up at school and fly them to my place." The three fillies were giving them the puppy dog eyes. "Oh alright. You can pick them up at school, but you must bring them back here on Sunday."

* * *

 **(Normal POV)**

It was Friday after school, and the three fillies were waiting at the door for Jethro. "Girls, I was informed that the three of you will be picked up by Jethro, but he's la..." The crimson pegasus landed in front of Cherilee a tad too fast and dust rose from the ground. "I'm sorry for being late Miss Cherilee! I had to get some things for the girls." Jethro carried a saddle bag with some food supplies, a few pillows and blankets. "Well, at least you didn't forget. Please try to be on time next time. Good bye girls! See you on Monday." Cherilee left towards town. "Ok! Let's go!" The CMC began running towards Ponyville.

"Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo! You're going the wrong way!" With a screeching halt, they turned around and ran in the direction of Fluttershy's cottage. He laughed while walking behind them. "Jethro, where's your house?" Scootaloo asked once they reached the cottage, not finding another building besides the cottage owned by the shy pegasus. "It's deep inside the Everfree, same as always." Their ears dropped. "Insie de Everfree?/Inside the Everfree?" He nodded to their question. "Now wait here. When I call you, you enter the forest." He walked inside, vanishing from sight. "Are we really walking into the Everfree?" Sweetie Belle sounded slightly scared. "Ah don know...maybe its a prank?" The red haired filly said. "Aaaahhhhh stop worrying so much you two. We have a whole weekend to plan a haunted house for next Friday." In that instant, thunder clouds rolled over the forest. "Girls! Come on! We have to beat the storm to my place!" The three looked at each other and spoke in unison. "Can't we just go to your house?" They heard him sigh. "We are going, so come on." The three walked into the forest.

* * *

 **(Sometime later)**

The pegasi had a storm planned for the afternoon, and the Mane Six were cooped up in the Library. "Uhhh..." Both Rarity and Applejack said at the same time, a rare thing since they were polar opposites. "Everything alright you two?" The lavender mare asked. "We're just worried about our sisters." Rarity spoke out, and AJ just hummed in acceptance. "You don't have to worry about them, Jethro will take good care of them." Reassured Fluttershy. "Ah know, but that dosn't mean we wont worry..." Twilight smiled. "I got it! Why don't we all go to the spa, a relaxation day will surely help unwind." The suggestion was out of the lavender mare's comfort zone, but she was willing to endure it. She personally thought it was better to stay inside and read books. "That's a great idea!" Pinkie was shouting, shaking Fluttershy. The idea perked Rarity up. "Some spa time would release the tension I've had on my back recently." The all grabbed some umbrellas and headed to the Day Spa to release some tension.

* * *

 **(With the CMC)**

A dragon emerged from the forest to the clearing where the partly ruined castle was. "Since when is the rain so cold?" Scootaloo asked, making sure to stay under his wing. "Well, it's autumn, and the days will only get colder as winter arrives." The unicorn filly answered in a matter of fact tone. "It doent mattr. With Jethro an his wings, we have the best umbrella evr, its even heated!" The three fillies agreed and Jethro smiled. _'The cold rain is actually good for me._ ' They walked up the stairs and Sweetie Belle helped open the door with her magic. "Ok. We'll take a tour of the place first, then you three take baths while I cook." They all dropped their saddle bags and the tour began. First, they entered the Sun throne room, then the Hall of Ponyless hooves, Ponyarmor Hall and the mega Organ.

Jethro showed them the many diferent trap doors and spots for them to go and scare ponies, and Apple Bloom had already chosen her spot. "Ok, if anything happens, you three can come here. - Jethro pulled down a lever and a door opened - This is a small, but sturdy room, that has only access from this place and another one close to the throne room." The three got in and looked at him. "What could happen?" Jethro looked away. "Well...there was one time when Timberwolves snuck inside..." Their faces lost their color, and Sweetie Belle turned white-er, if that was possible. "That happened a few months back, but they ran away once I began breathing fire." A bit of color returned to their faces and they walked outside of the small place and into the oposite side of the castle through the kitchen. "Ok, I'll begin with dinner, so go get baths." He sent them off to the bathroom, assuring them that no timberwolves would sneak inside this part of the castle. The three fillies were walking, and could feel a cold breeze giving them goosebumps on their skin. "What 's that?" Apple Bloom was walking in the direction of the cold breeze.

"Apple Bloom! What are you doing?" Scootaloo shouted/whispered. "Am gonna check where dis cold breeze comes from, nothin much." The other two fillies walked behind her, curiosity growing. The corridor wasn't very long, as they could see Jethro's tail at the end; that was the kitchen. To the right, there was a slightly open door from where the cold air seeped out. "What do you think is in here?" Sweetie Belle asked. "I don't know, but let's find out." Scootaloo pushed open the door, and the saw another corridor, but this one was covered with ice and a small amount of light cristals. They walked further in and crashed with a cold wall. "Ouch. Stupd wall." Apple Bloom rubbed her face and Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were frozen with fear, both pointing a hoof at it. "That's not a wall Apple Bloom..." The farmer filly lifted her gaze towards what she thought was the wall, but it was a thing hanging from the roof. "This aint nothin girls, just a decoration." She touched it to turn it around, and it was frozen as well. Soon they saw something they regreted...the face of a pig. What was dangling from the roof was a dead pig...

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""AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"" The three huddled close to each other, and tried to run away, but they just kept crashing into dead pigs.

* * *

""AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"" He heard the yells and dropped the pan. "Girls!" He ran towards the scream, but didn't see nothing in the direction of the bathroom. _'Where are they?'_ He tried to think, but the cold wasn't letting him. _'Why is it so cold out here?'_ He turned towards the freezer and saw the door wide open. "Damn!" He ran inside and found the three fillies inside, huddled together. "Girls. Come on out, you'll freeze in here." Jethro wrapped them in his wings and led them out. "Now let's get you three warm." He lit the fireplace and the three went close. "W-what was t-that?" They were shivering, but not of the cold, they were scared seeing for the first time a dead pig. "That's where I keep meats." The fillies looked at him.

"I'm a dragon, and dragons eat meat...so I have a few dead boars from the Everfree. I have to keep it cold so the meats don't go bad." They had stopped shivering and were staring at him. "But yah eat vegetabls and other fruits at mah house, and ah've nevr seen yah eat meat." He was nervously shuffling his claws. "I'm half dragon, so I don't need as much meat as a real dragon. The things I eat are thanks to my Phoenix half." The fillies looked at each other and sighed. "Well, that explains a lot. You flying away like a mad pony sometimes, and coming back tired...hunting pigs must be tiring." All of them shared a laugh. "Yep, it is...and they're boars. Pigs don't have tusks." Suddenly, Apple Bloom was jumping exitedly. "Ah got it! When we do the haunted castle, we gotta take the ponies through the freezer. That'll get their scare juices flowing." The other girls looked at her deadpanned. "...That's an excelent idea!" The fillies jumped excitedly, but stopped. "Jethro, y'all ok?" Apple Bloom looked at him with those big eyes of hers, concerned. "I'm fine...its just...you three will keep my secret right? About me eating meat?"

Sweetie Belle tried to place a hoof on his shoulder to comfort him, but only reached his foreleg. "Of course we will." The three fillies nodded. "Specially from Flutershy?" "Specially from Fluttershy...Ah don't wanna know what'd happn if she knew." Jethro smiled, and grabbed the food he made: hay fries, eggplant sandwiches and some grape juice. "Ok, lets hear it. What can we name the haunted house? It has to sound cool." Apple Bloom raised a hoof and spoke. "How bout The Spooky Castle?" She wiped the ketchup from her muzzle with the back of her hoof and kept eating. "I don't know Bloom...Spooky Castle sounds lame..." Scootaloo sipped from her juice, and looked at Sweetie Belle. "Got any ideas?" The unicorn filly tapped her chin. "How about Dragon House?" Scootaloo let out an exasperated sigh. "That's worse than Bloom's suggestion." Jethro had been quiet for some time now.

"No no, I think she has something. A dragon's house is called a den, so why not Dragon's Den?" Jethro grabbed the blanket from under him and placed it over his shoulders as a cape. "Step right up ponyfolk and enter 'The Dragon's Den' if you dare! This atraction is so scary, even full grown ponies will cower in fear! I dare you to come inside..." The fillies were staring at him with smiles on their faces. "That's perfect!" The three had finished their meals and looked tired. "Well, it's time for bed. We'll continue planing in the morning." Jethro brought over his saddle bag and handed each filly a pillow and a sleeping bag. "Goodnight Apple Bloom. Goodnight Scootaloo. Goodnight Sweetie Belle." The fillies turned to him and smiled. "Goodnight Jethro." Not much time pased and the girls had fallen asleep. _'Shadow Night will be a good one this year...'_

* * *

 **(Nightmare Night)(Shadow Night)  
**

The town was completely covered with decorations, not thanks to a certain party pony and her party cannon."Thats me!" Pinkie whispered. Why are you here Pinkie Pie, I'm narrating the setting. "I wanted to say hiii to the audience! Also I wanted to say it was all possible thanks to my patented Party Cannon!" But I said it already. Didn't you pay attention? "Did you just facepalm? Awesome! I didn't know narrating disembodied voices could facepalm, or sigh like you just did." Hey look, a balloon. "Floaty thingy!" Great she left...where was I? Ah right. The decorations were done, and everyone in town was dressed up, ready for the festivities: Pinkie dressed as a chicken, Applejack as a scarecrow, Rainbow as a Shadow Bolt, Fluttershy as a tree...odd right? And Twilight...a wizard? "It's Starswirl The Bearded!" Pinkie popped up, whispered and vanished again. Any how, they were gathered near Town Hall in front of a stage, the mayor saying some words to the exited ponies.

"...Now let's enjoy Nightmare Night Festival everypony!" Everyone clapped, er, stomped and cheered. The little fillies went trick or treeting(however that's said in both real life and MLP) while some of the adults gathered around the dunking booth, and spider throw booth, amongst others. Everything was going well so far, until somepony noticed a black spot on the moon. Looking up, everypony saw the spot grow bigger, until a carriage could be distinguished. It was dark blue and black; with pointed edges and sharp lines instead of the flowing lines in Celestia's carriage, also it was driven by a pair of bat-ponies. A hooded figure jumped out of it and floated down, landing gracefully on the floor. With a hoof it removed the hood, revealing Princess Luna. Everypony bowed, clearly terrified of her.

"Princess Luna!" Twilight ran to her and bowed. "AH TWILIGHT!" The cowering ponies ran away, scared by her Royal Canterlot Voice. "Princess, I think you should try talking in a lower tone of voice." Twilight suggested respectfully. "BUT THIS IS THE VOICE AND VOLUME USED TO ADDRESS THY SUBJECTS!" Twilight lowered her ears. "...That may be, but it only frightens the townsfolk. A lower volume could improove the ponyfolk's liking towards you. Why don't you come with me Princess, I know someone who can help you with your volume." Luna sighed and nodded, following Twilight, but before they reached the outskirts of town, they met a chicken costume wearing pony who was hopping with fillies behind her. They exited the street they were in and met with Luna and Twilight. "...AHHHHHHHH! Nightmare Moon!" Running away, they vanished, leaving a cloud of smoke."WAIT!" Luna called for them, but they just kept running. "Thy hope thou're right Twilight Sparkle..."

* * *

After some trouble getting Fluttershy to help, and having Applejack give Luna some tips; nothing had worked, as ponies still fled from her, even though she spoke softly and tried to have fun like the rest of them. Pinkie Pie had already declared that being scared was actually fun for her, but Luna was too far away to listen, saddened by her failure. She walked into the Everfree and sat down in front of a Nightmare Moon statue, the glow of the moon behind it. "It's over now, Thy know deep inside. Even after Thy changed, everypony still thinks of thyself as Nightmare Moon... but thy'm not that mare anymore. Thy'm Luna, a mare who only longs for the acceptance of her subjects..." With a sigh and a heavy heart, a single tear fell down her eyes.

 **SNAP**

She gasped and wiped away the drop of moisture, turning towards the direction of the sound. "Come on out! Thou've failed to hide thineself." The bushes rustled some more, and soon a pony walked out wearing a bird costume. It was a bright crimson costume comprised of phoenix feathers. The feathers surrounded the face, most pointing upwards like spines. Also, a feathered tail that extended a few feet back, and pegasus wings of the same color. "You got me. How've you been Luna? Didn't expect to see you here." She looked at him curiously. "Who art thou?" "It's me, Jethro..." A smile tugged at the corner of her lips, and she hugged him briefly. "Jethro! It's been some time since the last letter, and thy must apologize. Thy sister suggested thy come to Ponyville and 'chat' with thou while here, keeping thy comming a secret. Thy wanted to also be welcomed as their princess, sadly, the rest of Ponyville still thinks of thy as Nightmare Moon."

Jethro sat down next to her. "I wouldn't worry about it much. Everypony around here is very superstitious, and it'l take more time to overcome their superstitions." She looked at him. "But how long?" Her teal eyes were beady and moist, tears at their corners. "I'm not certain, but moping around here won't change anything. How about we have some fun?" She sniffed and blinked away her tears. "Have some fun?" Jethro stood up and extended his hoof. "Yeah! I'll tell you on the way..." Hesitant, she placed her hoof on his and stood up, following him. "I'm doing a haunted house tonight, and thought that maybe you wanted to scare ponies...in the good way." She huffed. "Thy've been scaring ponies unintentionally, hating it every second; and thou want thy to scare ponies now intentionally? Art thou insane?" Jethro laughed. "Well, no. Since the haunted house is called The Dragon's Den, I thought that you could...protect the guests from the mean looking dragon...me." He pointed at himself, and she tilted her head a bit. "...Thy find the idea appealing. Where it this Dragon's Den?" The forest opened up to a clearing and she stopped next to him. "Welcome to the Dragon's Den!" He motioned with a hoof towards the castle.

Luna looked at it amazed. _'This is thy old castle...the one thy lived in with Tia...'_ "This is your old castle, isn't it?" She nodded wordlessly and walked forward, admiring the remodeled section. "...How come it's partly rebuilt?" Her mane flowed behind her, and Jethro found himself staring at it. "Uh...I'm living there now..." Jethro mentally slapped himself. _'Stop staring idiot!'_ He thought. "Jethro!" The fillies called from the door. "Girls, meet Princess Luna! She used to live here!" They came running down and circled her, exited. "Fillies, arn't thou scared?" The three looked at each other and blew razzberries. "Nope! We heard the story of how you changed from our sisters!" They smiled at her and looked at her mane. "Wow! I't beautiful..." Sweetie Belle admired her etheral mane. "Please, it's not that special." Luna was embarrased, it's been more than a 1000 years since she was complimented by anypony. "Of course it is! Don't you think so too Jethro?" Sweetie Belle turned to him.

"It's gorgeous..." He wasn't really there, but lost in thought admiring her mane. Meanwhile, Luna felt blood rushing to her cheeks, a dark and heavy blush. "Uh, Yes! Yes it's special! It looks great!" Luna looked away with a small smile and red cheeks, too embarrassed by his compliment, and he lowered his head that was a bright red. ' _Why did you say something like that Jethro!'_ "...Hey! How bout we give the Princess a tour?" Exited, the fillies grabbed her hooves and dragged her inside.

* * *

 **(First Person POV)**

The tour was finally over, being close to 8 pm. _'I can't believe she suggested that! It's brilliant!'_ I was smiling...more like grinning.

 **~Flashback~**

"I'm going to appear here and breathe fire and Sweetie Belle will stop it." Luna looked at me with a thinking face. "How about thy use thy magic to direct them through the castle? Scaring them towards where thou want will be hard." The three fillies and I looked at her. "That's great!"

 **~Flashback End~**

"Thou art sure that it's ok for us to wait here?" Luna was curious, to say the least. "You three will be fine...I've been chasing away the Timberwolves, and its been months since they last snuck inside." Luna nodded. "Thy shall wait here with the two fillies then." She turned around, and her mane moved like a trail of smoke behind her. _'How does her mane do that?'_ I strapped on the balloon and Apple Bloom held the reighns. "Now do it gently." She snapped them and I took off towards Ponyville.

We reached town by 8:20, and Apple Bloom tied the ropes, securing the balloon. Some of the ponies in the plaza had gathered around us, and when I felt there was enough of a croud, I started. "Welcome everypony! I dare you to come with us and enter The Dragon's Den! An atraction so scary, even full grown ponies will cower in fear! Come with us of you dare..." Fluttershy, and Rarity were nowhere in sight; Rainbow was probably daring AJ to something and Twilight was talking to some parents. She finished and approached me. "Jethro, nice presentation, and cool phoenix costume. How about you take us first...Rainbow and AJ dared each other, and these fillies want to go." She looked behind her, and approximately five, or six fillies were looking anxious. "Well, I can't say no to these many young ones. All of you get aboard!" The fillies hopped on, followed by Twilight, Pinkie Pie, AJ and Rainbow. I hitched myself and Bloom snapped at the reighns, taking off towards the castle.

"Alright everpony. Keep yer hooves inside the balloon and trah not to shake the balloon Pinkie." Apple Bloom called, she was glaring at Pinkie and the hiperactive pony apologized, staying still. _'We're reaching the landing point.'_ Bloom clicked her tongue, and I began the descent, but just as I began the descent, I felt something crash into me, shaking the baloon and scaring the passengers. Moments later, I didn't feel the force of the baloon on my reighns, Apple Bloom released the ropes like I told her. I fell down and crashed onto a tree, breaking it in the process. Whatever crashed onto me wasn't on top of me.

 **WHOOOOOOOOSHHHHHHH**

Something flew over me, and a small box fell down. Approaching it, I grabbed it and shook it. It was mostly empty, except for a few small things, since it didn't maske much sound. I peered inside and saw three scales of diferent colors. ' _Whose scales are these?'_ I looked towards the castle, and got a very bad feeling. I opened my wings and flapped as hard as I could towards the castle.

* * *

 **(In the baloon)(Normal POV)**

 _'After the tug from Jethro I released the ropes out of pure adrenaline, and most were on the floor of the baloon, too surprised to stand up.'_ "Calm down everypony. There ain't a reasn for y'all to panic." Apple Bloom was trying her best to sound calm, but her voice was shaky. "Apple Bloom! What'n the hay's goin on?" AJ asked, but Apple Bloom didn't answer; instead she grabbed a few ropes and started lassoing a few branches. "This here's the landing spot for de balloon...we have to set it down here." With a nod, the adult mares present began helping: AJ helped her sister lasso a few trees, Rainbow flew outside and pushed the balloon to stop its forward movement and Twilight used her magic to get ropes from the ground to the balloon. A minute or so later, the balloon alighted down on a small woodden plataform.

"Is everypony ok?" While the rest helped, Pinkie asked around concerned, trying to help in her own way. "Yes..." She did a head count and found every single one of them inside. "Great! Um, I hav ta get inside, but y'all should come along." Bloom jumped out of the balloon and ran inside the castle that was a few meters away. "Hiuffff. Well, now that you guys are ok, let's go to the 'Dragon's Den' Uuuuuuuuu Spoooookyyyy!" The fillies began laughing and followed Pinkie to the castle. "Well, it ain't that bad...it looks cool for an attraction on Nightmare Night." Rainbow tried to sound ok, but her voice cracked a tiny bit, and AJ heard it. "Are ya afraid Rainbow?" Her teasing smirk grew for every moment she spoke.

"N-no!" She glared at AJ with a fierce look, but noticed she was shaking a bit. "Oh, you say I'm scared, but you shake in your hooves." "What! A'm not shakn!" Now it was Rainbow's time to smirk. "Prove it." They both looked at the castle. "First one there wins!" Poof, in that instant, both disappeared from the ballon and were approaching the castle, screeching to a halt at the same time. Meanwhile, Twilight just shook her head. _'They dare each other, but both are more scared that the fillies.'_ She hopped off and began walking towards the castle. When she arrived, the doors got surrounded by a cobalt blue glow and opened. Quietly, everypony entered the hall that was beyond the doors.

 **BLAM**

The double doors behind them slammed closed. The room was pitch black, and no sound was heard except for the breeze that blew outside. "...Welcome to the Dragon's Den. This will be a very scary attraction, so fillies, choose a hugging buddy...also the mares should get hugging buddies." They all paired off, and the mares looked around amazed, trying to find the source of the voice. _'That was Luna's voive. I didn't know she was going to be part of the attraction.'_ While Twilight kept thinking, a bright cobalt blue ball formed and descended from the roof. "I am Lizz, and I'll be your guide for this tour." The voice came from the light ball and everypony stared at it. "Follow me everypony." It floated towards a door at a walking pace and vanished. They all walked towards the door and Twilight opened it with her magic. Inside, they found the room that housed the Elements, with claw marks everywhere. There were a few fallen columns, from where the light of the moon fell inside.

All of them watched as the moon got covered by a large dark spot, the movement of its wings kept it there, but it descended after a few seconds. "W-What was t-that?" Pinkie, along with the rest of the fillies, were shaking like gell-o. "I have a bad feeling. Come with me everypony." Faithful to the plan, Luna spoke through the ball and made it go towards what could be seen as the kitchen. Everypony watched as a shadow appeared, big sharp teeth and a puff of smoke rising from it's muzzle. "Hurry, you must hide! In here!" The ball flew towards a door, and the mares opened it quickly, everyone galloping inside. "Close the door!" The ball yelled a bit now and Rainbow closed it, walking inside to where her friends were. They all watched as a pair of claws came in front of the door, and stopped there. They stayed there a few seconds more and vanished. "Great, he left...for now. Can somepony make a light?" Twilight heard it and used her horn, a soft purple glow to it. She immediately felt her heart sink to her gut.

In the room that was already cold, their surroundings were illuminated, revealing rows after rows of what seemed to be dead ponies lined the walls, and at the very end one dripped. AJ looked back at the fillies and smiled. "Ah no need to worry young'ones, its just water." She walked forward towards what she thought was a decoration and touched the water. "See, just water." When she touched it, it was tacky. ' _Water doen't get tacky...'_ She brought the hoof to her face and sniffed, realization hitting her. _'This ain't water...its...'_ "Blood!" Everypony screamed and ran outside, truly scared now. "Where do we go now?" Pinkie's voice cracked really bad, and the light orb formed. "This way, we must escape before 'he' finds you." The orb flew away, and everypony ran after it. The orb led them to a pair of double doors, but nopony was ready for what was inside.

* * *

 **(Some time before)**

Jethro landed at the throne room, and met a destroyed place. The banners were all charred, the window destroyed and part of the floor burned. _'Who did this?'_ As he walked further in, he saw a shadow. The shadow reminded him of his father, albeit a bit smaller. He approached it rather happily. "Dad! What are you doing here?" He turned around and I could see his eyes, a pair of blood red eyes. "Well, well, well. How've you been...Shard." He stopped cold when he heard his name, well more the tone it was said, it was awfully familiar. "Oh, I'm sorry...Dad...he's not here." The one talking walked closer and showed himself. "Gary! What do you want?!" Jethro still looked like a pegasus, and this got him curious. "Shard, what's up with this...uh...disguise?" The younger of the two let out a feral growl. "None of your bussiness! Now, how did you find me?"

"Now I must say, none of your bussiness. I'm here because I heard some things...concerning you." He walked slowly towards him, his blood red eyes not breaking contact with his purple ones. "Things like you getting...friendly with these equines." He was circling him, his tail swishing behind him exited. "You know, after all the years we were apart when we were kids, I finally found out why we were separated. Dad said that peace could be made with other species, but I didn't want it. Peace is for these song loving equines, we're machines bred to fight!" Gary stopped. "I hate your disguise...let's get rid of it." With a glow of his horns, Gary removed the magic disguise. "He he he. Better." He resumed his circling. "After that, I began destroying towns in my path, searching for the culprit." Shard stood with his wings opened, smoke dripping from his muzzle.

"So you killed them? Just because dad wanted peace?" Gary looked at him, smiling. "No, I killed them because I wanted! The urge to hunt grew too strong and I killed a pony that strayed once too close to my den. When I finished, I couldn't believe the rush I felt, it was amazing!" Shard had seen those eyes before, on the three that tried killing him before. "I proposed to take everything for ourselves! Since we're so feared throughout the lands, why are we the ones hiding?! Shouldn't they service us!?" He laughed like a madman. "You're mad! No wonder dad hated when you came close!"

Gary stepped up in front of Shard and placed a claw on his muzzle to silence him. "Wrong! Dad hated when I approached you because he was trying to hide something! Once, a pony steered close to my den and I attacked him, same as with the rest. But this one was different. He jumped and evaded me. After an intense chase into the woods, I saw him change, from this pony into a dragon with feathers! In that instant, he used his claws and slashed my chest, giving me this." He raised his chest and three thick lines ran down his chest, scar tissue where scales should have been. "He said, he was going to kill me for hurting his daughter, but I wasn't going to let him. I shot lightning at him and he fell down, twitching, leaving a few burned feathers flying in the air. I approached him and ripped his wings out, going for his heart next, but this unicorn popped out from nowhere and vanished with him. I swore that I would kill every single hibrid I found because of him." He stomped the floor and it cracked under his strength.

"Now here I am, looking at my brother who used the same disgusting magic trick as that bastard, and I finally understood everything. The piece that explained why we were separated. It was because you are a hybrid!" His horns shone black with purple and a bolt formed, shooting at Shard. "Stop dodging you half-blood!" Shard turned to face him and expelled fire from his maw, lighting up the place, trying to burn him. "Weak!" The small beam hit Shard and the final spell vanished, revealing his true feral form. The claws were far sharper than dragon's claws; the spikes at the back of his head were actually feathers that fell down his back and his tail spikes were a fan of crimson and silver feathers. "To think my own blood is an abomination!" Shard barred his teeth, his feathers smoking slightly. "The abomination is you!" Shard lunged at him, claws forward, causing a smirk on Gary. Gary raised his claws and both sets entangled with each other, the floor cracking up a bit more by the sheer force of them. With a push, Gary forced Shard away and his claws got cloaked with lightning. "I shall end you!" He slashed left, right and down with both claws, but none hit. Shard's claws lit on fire and he counterattacked, managing to cut off a head spike half off.

In that moment, the doors opened and the mares appeared through. "Oh look, more equines." Shard looked towards them and was clawed in the face, flying a few meters before stopping. Gary turned to them with a predatory smirk. "You get away from them!" Shard tackled Gary on his side and looked back at the girls. "Get away! I'll keep him bussy!" Shard shouted, looking back at them. "Jajaja! Die!" Gary opened his mouth and lightning flew towards the mares and fillies. "Noooo!" A few feet before the lightning struck, a cobalt blue magical shield formed, protecting them. Smoke rose and when it cleared, Luna was standing between them and the shield. "Art thou alright?" They all nodded. "Good. Let's get away from here!" They ran and reached the entrance. When they opened the door, a pack of Timberwolves walked in. "Well, well, well. We have dinner boys!" The timberwolves walked inside, aproximately 10. "We have to push forward and get away from here!" Twilight began shooting bolts of magic at the ones in front of her, creating a path to the balloon for the rest.

"Everyone to the balloon!" They all galloped and reached the balloon, leaving Twilight with Luna to fend off the remaining timberwolves. "Twilight, thou will go with the rest of them. Thy shall stay and provide cover." Luna blasted another timberwolf to smithereens. "I can't go! I can't leave you here!" Luna smiled. "It'll be ok Twilight. Thy'm far better versed in combat, since Thy helped with the taking of Equestria. Thine friends need thou now more than anything." Twilight debated inside her mind if she should stay, but the look Luna gave her didn't leave room for arguing, so she obliged and left. _'The three fillies are nowhere in sight...Thy hope they're ok.'_ Luna galloped towards the safe spot, and found the fillies outside it. "Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle. Why art thou outside the room?" The three hugged her tightly, hiding behind her. "T-timberwolf!" The creature was slowly walking from the spot they should have been hiding in. "Stay back foul beast!" She gathered magic and shot it at the timberwolf, but it just shrugged it off. "Girls, run back to the balloon, Thy shall destroy this beast." The three nodded and ran off.

While Luna fought off the beast the three fillies ran, but took a wrong turn and instead of the entrance, they were at the throne room. "Jethro!" The girls looked as he lay in tatters, same as Gary. "Girls, get away from here! It's not safe!" He felt them hide behind him, peeking at the other one. "Timberwolves are everywhere!" Scootaloo managed to say without faltering. He ignored Gary and kept pushing them to the door. "Oh, what's this? You won't present me to them?" Shard stood up and glared at him. "Why would I do that! You've got nothing with them!" Gary moved towards the three fillies, only to be blocked by Shard. "Get away from them." "Make me."

As the two attacked each other, Shard kept his back to the three fillies. "Humph, you remind me so much of our 'good' dad." The venom laced words hit deep. "Why you!" Shard attacked relentlessly, until he felt his back against a wall, a foreleg to his throat. "Protecting them! You make me sick!" Gary slapped him with his paw and Shard flew until he hit another wall. Opening his eyes, he saw the three girls shivering in place. "I'll enjoy eating you three." Fear crossed their small faces. "What's this? So scared you peed yourself?" He looked directly at one of them, his smile growing. "Get away from them bastard!" Shard shakily stood up, panting. "Nope. Instead, you'll just watch them die not being able to do anything!" A blast of lightning escaped his mouth, but instead of hitting its intended target, it hit Shard in the back. "Useless! You're just prolonging the inevitable!"

He had flown and covered them with his wings, acting as a shield. He skidded a few feet forward and collapsed unconscious. Seconds later, a dark blue mare appeared in front of them, running towards the fallen Jethro. "Jethro! Art thou alright?" She was shaking him, and a few moments later, he opened his eyes. "Luna...get the girls...out of here..." She was about to explain that she already sent them to the balloon, but he opened his wings and there they were, eyes closed and paralized with fear. With a nod, she hugged them and teleported out. "Ooo, was she your mate? Nah, too pretty for you. Maybe I could claim her as my own..." He smiled, but it soon vanished, as a fire blast collided with his face. "D-don't you dare...talk about Luna...like that!" Shard had managed to lift his chest and face from the ground, spitting a mouthful of blood on the ground. Gary now smiled manically, approaching his brother. "I'll do whatever _I_ want Shard! - He stepped on his ribs, breaking a few in the process - And then, I'll kill you!" Biting down, he yanked a wing and tore the muscle out. "AAAAAHHHH!"

When he was about to bite down on his neck, Gary was interrupted. "Master Gary! We must leave at once! The captain of the Royal Guard is approaching and if we're seen, the master plan will be stopped." The armored phony was concerned, a hoof on Gary's shoulder. "Thanks Chang. It seems our bonding time will have to be cut short, brother." Gary walked towards the hole on the wall he made and looked back. "Chang, return to your post. The plan must continue uninterrupted." Bowing, the phony left. Unfurling his wings, Gary lifted off, but before he left he spoke his warning. "You better watch your back brother! Everything is not what it seems!" He flew away, leaving Shard on the ground, bleeding by his wing and coughing up blood. _'Is this the end?'_


	6. The Aftermath

**Yooooo! I believe a bit of explination is in order. In the last chapter, I wrote about Gary tearing the muscle out, but I was looking at it like it happens in football. Often, some players tear either their hamstrings, pecks, or other muscles, leaving them out for the season; and the injury I depicted in the last chapter was a poorly explained writing, copying what happens in football. Gary didn't actually rip it out of the wing, so he's not that bad...for now...**

 **A banner appeared surrounded by a lavender glow: MR owns nothing, except for the title and name of oc. Everything else belongs to its respective owner.(Full disclaimer can be found in chapter 1)**

 **Jethro: Ok, now that thats explained, how long is a season?**

 **MR: probably a few months...why?**

 **Jethro: I can't fly for a few months?!**

 **MR: Nah! Just this chapter.**

 **Luna: Great! Thy was worried he would need a wing cast.**

 **MR: Oh, he does. _**

 **Luna:What?**

 **Celestia: MR will explain it later Lulu, on with the story**!

* * *

Luna suddenly appeared by the entrance of the castle, horror struck as the balloon was already in flight a few hundred yards away. "Thy have to get thou to the balloon." Using her magic, she grabbed the three fillies, who were frozen with fear, and completely silent; and flew behind the balloon. "Twilight Sparkle!" She called, slightly out of breath. In response, a lavender mare stuck her head out towards her. "Princess Luna! Why are you here?" "No time for that! Take these fillies and keep them safe. Thy must return to the castle." Luna moved the magic where Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were towards the balloon and once they were surrounded by a purple glow, she relinquished her magic and turned around. "Princess! Why are you going back?!" Twilight shouted over the increasing distance. "Thy must return and help Jethro!" Luna flew away, speeding towards the castle.

* * *

 **? POV**

Once Gary left, I softly flew inside the hole, and landed without a sound. _'This silent landing reminds me of those mute movies back at home.'_ I was surprised to find much of the torn decorations on the floor actually being of new materials. The coppery smell of blood was present, along with the smell of burnt cloth. I looked around and found a body sprawled on the floor, a bit of blood coming from the mouth and a bite mark on his right wing, I knew exactly who it was. "Don't worry, your big sis is here." I was stroking the feathers on his head the way he liked when we were kids. I pulled out a small flask from under my wing and uncorked it. It was an extremely small dose, so the medicine would take a good three weeks to take effect completely. "Phoenix tear...this is all I've got, so don't die on me after I use this."

I sat down next to his face and placed it on my lap. Opening his maw, I dropped the medicine in his mouth and closed it. "You shouldn't hate Gary for this, Shard. He's not thinking straight. I don't support or endorse what he does, but with mom and dad away from us we can't hate each other, we're the only family each other has." I had my claws over his chest, feeling as the ragged breathing was soon easing into a calmer one. I felt a smile creeping into my maw, and kissed the top of his forhead. "I can't be here when you wake up, but I saw the ponies you had here a while ago, maybe one of them will take care of you in my place." Gently placing his head on the floor, I took a feather of my own and lodged it between one of his ear frills.

As I turned around to leave, the door burst open. "Who art thou? And what does thou want?" I turn around and met this dark blue winged unicorn, who glared at me. "I'm not someone important. I just came to fix some of the damage my brother made." Her stone hard glare intensified and her horn started glowing. "Thou dare come here after what he did!?" I smiled. "I came here because of Shard. I never expected Gary to actually hurt him this way. I hope that one day Shard ends this petty sibling rivalry." I turned around and approached the hole, not hearing anything from her. "Petty sibling rivalry?" I heard her ask, but I flew away. _'She must be a good friend of yours, Sliver... Jeje...you're maybe too big for that nickname...'_

* * *

 **Normal POV**

 _'Did thy actually hear right? Sibling rivalry she said?'_ Luna's thoughts were a blur in her head. "Petty sibling rivalry?" She asked, but the one she was talking to had left. Quickly, she approached Jethro and began using a healing spell. _'Come on, why won't it work!?'_ She had continued the spell for a few minutes, but nothing happened. Instead of healing him, the magic was being syphoned somewhere else. "Work damn it!" After three minutes, the feathers vanished and he began muttering. "...Don't leave me..." Luna smiled, noticing that the spell began working. "Thy can't leave. Thou still have to get better."

* * *

 **(somewhere else)**

Three guards walked ahead, plowing through the dense forest, following their leader. "Be careful, this forest hasn't been charted, and Timberwolves inhabit these parts." The leader, a white unicorn clad with the captain's uniform spoke. He looked far stronger that the other guards, and the helmet kept the blue mane with a slightly lighter blue highlight back. The group consisted of four unicorns and a pegasus, who was currently flying ahead, scouting. The four unicorns reached a small clearing, and the pegasus landed in front. "Captain, the castle is twenty minutes away, and no wildlife in the inmediate vecinity." With a sigh, he removed his helmet, his hair style turning into a cool, messy look. "Ok, take five. After that we reach the castle." The guards removed their helmets as well and began drinking water, quenching their thirst.

After a few minutes, they could all hear two ponies bickering at a distance. "I can't go any faster, this thing drags behind me! I need a break!" "Alrigh. Come on and take yer rest." The ones bickering weren't mad, but they did sound tense. Right after that, a balloon crossed the night sky over the guards. "Who goes there? Identify yourselves in the name of Princess Celestia's Royal Guard." A unicorn guard asked, magic bolt charged in his horn. "I'm Twilight Sparkle, Princess Celestia's pupil." This caught the attention of a certain unicorn."Twily, what are you doing here?" the captain of the Royal Guard asked. "Shining! We just came from the castle. What are you doing here?" Twilight was looking down from over the rim of the balloon. "We were sent here by Princess Celestia. Some of the townsfolk are complaining about strange noises."

Twilight shook her head frowning. "There's no time for that Shining, timberwolves are attacking Princess Luna. We must hurry!" Without a second thought, Twilight jumped from over the balloon. "Twilight!" Everyone on the balloon shouted. Startled by her reaction Shining Armor created a shield of magic around her, dispersing his magic bubble to set her down when she was close enough. "Twilight! Why did you do that?" As her brother, he was concerned about her, but his frown vanished soon after. "Because we have no time BBBFF! Besides, I knew you'd catch me." They nuzzled each other, and nodded. "Rainbow, Applejack! Take the balloon back to town! Shining and I will take care of Luna and Jethro!" "Right!" Rainbow said. "Take care! Don't die!" Pinkie shouted.

They vanished from sight, and the six ponies now galloped through the forrest, reaching the castle in les than 15 minutes. "That's strange, there are no timberwolves around here." Twilight said, not bothered by her brother's concern about timberwolves. She opened the door and halted once inside. Timberwolves were sprawled on the floor, defeated, while Luna stood shakily over them, panting. "Princess!" Shining ran to her and bowed. "Ah, Shining Armor. It's nice to see thou here. Why art thou here anyway?" He lifted his face and started explaining. Five minutes later, Luna understood. "Thy can understand Tia's concern. Thy thank thou wholeheartedly for such a quick response. The only wounded one is Jethro." Luna began walking at a brisk pace towards where Jethro was. "Thy request that thou keep an open mind, and please don't over-react."

She opened the door, and was surprised to find him looking like a pegasus. The captain of the Guard quickly approached him. "He has a few scrapes, cuts, a burn and we don't know if he's bleeding internaly. We must take him to a doctor inmediately!" A pink magic buble formed around the wounded pony's shape, and gently lifted it off of the ground. Focusing a bit more, Shining opened the door and ran out of the castle followed by the guards, Twilight, and Luna, full speed towards Ponyville.

* * *

 **In Ponyville Hospital(12:45am)(After Midnight)**

The doctor had fixed his external injuries, and said that he would need to have a wing cast for three months in order for his wing to get better. Also, he wouldn't wake up until after tomorrow, so most of them had returned to their homes, except for four ponies. The three fillies and the winged mare stayed by his bedside in silence. "...Um, Princess Luna?" The unicorn filly called and got her attention. "Yes little one? Something troubling thou?" The unicorn filly wasn't smiling. "He got hurt because of us. If we hadn't taken that wrong turn, he wouldn't have been hurt..." She turned her head down, and Luna could see her tears falling on the tiled floor; raising her face with a hoof, Luna smiled. "Worry not, dear Sweetie Belle. He did what any one of us would have done in that situation...it is not thine fault.." Even as she said those words, she found it hard to imagine herself in that situation. "Really?" The dark blue alicorn nodded, and the unicorn filly seemed to relax a bit.

The filly went back to her previous spot next to her friends and sat down, all three of them wobbly from sleepieness. Luna wasn't good either, the fighting and exitement had exhausted her, and resisting the temptation to doze off was not easy. It didn't take more than 30 minutes, and the three fillies were asleep with their heads resting together. She smiled fondly at them, and brought out a paper and quill. _'They felt so bad they stayed here until colapsing from tiredness...'_ She wrote a simple letter, rolled it with the feather he had a few hours before, and placed it under a hoof close to his chest. "Thy shall check on thou later." She silently picked up the three fillies, placing them on her back, and exited the room; not before turning back and smiling. _'Thank you, Shard...'_

* * *

Luna walked through the dark streets of Ponyville, her Royal Guard a few meters behind her. She delivered every one of the fillies to their homes and returned to Canterlot. "Luna! I was soo worried! Are you ok?" Once the pacing white alicorn caught sight of her, she hugged her little sister tightly. "Thy'm fine Tia. The timberwolves were nothing Thy couldn't handle, thy'm just tired." The dark blue alicorn stretched her sore wings and let out an exhausted breath. "Would you accompany me to thine chambers? Thy doubt thy could reach them with this exhaustion on my own." Celestia walked behind her, concerned but happy for her sister's return. "Did you meet your friend?" By now, she walked next to her, and noticed her forming smile drop. "Yes..." This didn't stike as good in Celestia's mind.

"Did you get into a fight with him or something?" The eldest of the two inquired, curious as to why she frowned. "No...he just...got hurt." The two reached Luna's room and entered, the owner of the bed flying to it and landing with a plop on the soft conforter, her Royal Regalia dropping on a cushion next to her bed. "Shining Armor mentioned something about a wounded pony in his report, so it was him. How is he?" Tia sat down on the edge of the bed and stroked her sister's mane affectionately. "He has a few cracked ribs, a bu...wound on his back and a hurt wing. Doctors say he'll need a wing cast for three months so his wing can heal." Celestia felt sad for this pony, but if he was ok, she wasn't going to worry much about it. "Maybe you can visit him again in this week to check up on him." Her words fell on deaf ears, as her affectionate stroking had lulled Luna to sleep. "You seem to have had a long night Lulu...sweet dreams." With her magic, she covered her sister with the blanket and left her room. "I don't mind lowering the moon for you tonight." She whispered just before closing the door, a faint smile grazing her lips.

* * *

The day after tomorrow soon came, and the Mane Six, plus the Cutie Mark Crusaders had gathered at the hospital to see Jethro. "Is he awake?" They all asked the doctor, who was signing some papers. "Sorry, but he hasn't woken from unconsciousness. His body is highly resistent to the medicines we use, and using more could have serious repectutions. I don't want to take that risk." Their ears dropped and they sat in the waiting room, silent. It was sometime before lunch that he woke up. "Ohhh, what a headache...where am I?" He looked around when his eyes got used to the light. The floor was tiled, the place reecked of cleaners and he was in a bed. He moved his wings, but one didn't want to move on his command. _'Gary! When I get my claws on him, I'll...'_ When he moved a hoof, he noticed the piece of parchment next to him. He quickly opened it, recognizing the seal.

 _~From: Luna Hello Jethro. If you are reading this, it has probably been two days since Nightmare Night. Dr. Hooves said you wouldn't remain unconscious until today. Thy must thank thou for the chance to help with the atraction, and thine valiant effort in driving off that dragon. Thy took the fillies to their homes after they colapsed from exhaustion early in the morning. My deepest apologies, for as a Princess, Thy...I should have done something more to protect my subjects, instead of leaving it to you. Thy shall be passing by and check on thou later this week, alright? Thine friend, Luna.~_

When he finished reading the letter, a blue feather fell from the letter. It was cool to the touch and it reflected the light from the lamps on the ceelling. _'Lissa...'_ He placed the letter, with the feather inside on the night table next to him gently, as not to break the feather, and tried to sit up, but a pain shot through his chest, bringing him to a coughing fit. The coughing brought more pain, wich caused him to cough more. "Jethro! Y'all can't be sittin up like that! Come oun, lay down." He looked at the door and found the CMC looking at him. The three fillies were pushing him down on the bed gently while the youngest of the Apple family spoke. "The doctor said that you had a few cracked ribs, and a torn wing muscle. You can't get up!" Next was Sweetie Belle expresing her concern. "Now don't go saying it's nothing! Having broken ribs, a burnt back, and hurt wing must hurt like hell."Scootaloo was concerned, but she didn't want to show much.

Jethro couldn't hold down a chuckle. "Alright. I hurt all over, and yes it hurts like hell! It's all his fault. When I get my claws on him..." Sweetie Belle scowled at him. "Jethro! I can't believe you'd suggest something like that! Revenge is not the answer." He breathed a defeated sigh. "Alright, alright. I won't seek revenge." The scowl on Sweetie Belle's features vanished. "Besides that, I'm glad you three are safe." He pulled the three to a hug and they smiled, gently returning the hug as to not hurt him more. Nurse Redheart entered the room and noticed he was awake. "Great! You woke up. Let me get Dr. Hooves so he can perform some tests." She quickly exited and a few minutes later, a comotion was heard outside. "I'm sorry everypony, but I can't have you in there. I need space to perform the tests. Once I'm done, you can come in." Dr. Hooves, as Redheart called him, entered and closed the door behind him, the three fillies on a sofa in a corner of the room. He looked at Jethro and brought his stetoscope to his ears. "Ok, I want you to breathe now in a slow steady rythm." He listened to his breathing, and checked many difrent things, until being satisfied. "Well Jethro, you seem to be healing fine. You can go home in the afternoon, and come back on monday for a check up. Right now rest, and you three - Dr. Hooves looked at the three fillies - don't tell the rest that I allowed you in here."

The fillies nodded, and the doctor walked outside, followed by a gush of ponies walking inside. One stood out the most. "Oh my gosh! Are you alright?! What happened to you? You recognize us, right? How many feathers am I holding up?" Fluttershy was talking soo fast he had a hard time understanding. "Fluttershy...Fluttershy..." He kept trying to calm her down, but she couldn't hear him over her increasing worry. He used his claws and closed her muzzle softly. "I'm alright now Fluttershy, and I recognize all of you. I ran into my brother and had a fight. We can talk about it later, when I get out of here, I don't want other ponies to hear." She nods and sits down on the couch next to the fillies, a sigh of relief escaping her muzzle. "Fluttershy is quiet?" Rarity looked at her, amazed. "Why are you surprised? She's almost always quiet."

The butter colored mare hid her face with her mane, a small blush visible, and Rariy smirked. "You should have been in town two nights ago. When Rainbow and AJ returned with the fillies and Pinkie Pie, Pinkie told her what happened, and she was panicking on the border of hyperventilating. She was: 'Where's Twilight?! And Jethro?! Are they alright?!', but since we didn't know what happened, she didn't calm down. When they brought you to town, she checked you over, and since you weren't awake, she feard the worst." Fluttershy was glaring at Rarity, but it looked cute since only half of her now redder face was visible. Rarity didn't notice, so she continued. "Then Dr. Hooves checked you, and after an hour or so, told us you would recover and that you wouldn't wake up until today. Once she heard that, she smiled and said she was going to sleep, and be here today. To our surprise, she was the first one to arrive." Now, even with her face covered by her hair, one could see the redness of her cheeks. All of us erupted into laughter, and she pouted.

Minutes turned into hours, and they all left to their homes, having delayed chores to finish. Nurse Redheart had given him some medicine, and a bottle, with precise instructions on how to drink the foul tasting medicine. "Well Jethro, - Dr. Hooves spoke - this concludes your hospital stay. Follow Redheart's directions for the medicine and avoid too much strain, as it can re-open your wounds." The doctor helped him up from the bed and led him out of the building. "You have a follow up visit next week. Don't forget." With the final reminder, the doc returned to his work place, leaving the crimson pegasus/dragon alone. _'No sense in waiting until it gets dark to walk home.'_ Looking around he found Ponyville's biggest landmark, Town Hall, and after studying it noticed something bad. He was at the farthest point from Fluttershy's cottage, or Applejack's place, at the south of Ponyville. (Sweet Apple Acres is east of Town Hall, while Fluttershy's cottage is west of it.) Placing one hoof after the other, he began walking towards the north-east, towards Sugar Cube Corner, Pinkie Pie's place to ask her for a lift to his house on the balloon.

* * *

"Ja!*pant* I'm finally*pant* here!*pant*" He panted heavily, he felt his chest tightening. _'Never expected the walk here would be so hard.'_ He had powered forward, when he should have taken a few breaks to catch his breath, and now his chest felt like it was on fire. "Now a cool milkshake...to calm me down." Fixing the position of his bad wing, he entred the cake looking building, a bell ringing when he walked in. "Hello! I'm sorry, but can you tell me your order? You see, I have this cake and surprise party I'm making for a friend of mine that came out of the hospital, and if I leave, the cake will be ruined. The rest of the party ponies should be arriving in ten minutes or so." Jethro smiled. "I'll have a chocolate milkshake please." He heard the pouring of ice, a liquid that most probably was milk, and a few other things; followed by a blender. He sat at a stool near the bar and when he received the order he placed the corresponding bits on the counter.

"Thank...you...Jethro!? What are you doing here?" He sipped his milkshake and sighed appreciatively. "I came here to ask..." He was interrupted by Pinkie's next outburst. "Aaaaahhhhhh! I told you about my surprise party! Now it's ruined!" Her normally poofy hair deflated like a balloon, turning flat, and she looked gloomy. "Ahh...ehh... What party? I couldn't hear you over the blender." She closed one eye and squinted the other, getting real close. *Fweeehh*(the sound made when her hair poofs up again...I don't know how to write that) "Ok! You stay here, and I'll be over there!" One second, she was there, the next there was a cloud of smoke in her place.

He sat in a seat far from the door, trying to avoid too much attention to himself. *Clink* The bell of the door rang, and a generous amount of hoofsteps followed, but he was thinking about either drinking another milkshake, or not. Reluctantly, he stood up and began walking towards the exit. _'No more milkshakes for today.'_ When he was about to leave, everypony shouted surprise, leaving him with a smile on his face. Pinkie bounced over and brought him to a table, where an assortment of cakes, cupcakes, and milkshakes decorated it. "What is all this?" He had expected a gift from the hyperactive pony, maybe a cake or a gem cupcake, but this was over the top...similar to her. "This is a thanks for taking care of us the other day against the nasty timberwolves and dragon." He couldn't remember the names of some of the fillies, but the Mane Six were there with their sisters(including Scootaloo as Rainbow's adoptive sister[?]) All of them nodded and smiled, then Pinkie pressed a button and a DJ booth popped up. "Now let's partaaaayy everypony!" DJ Pon-3 blared music at her cue, and everyone disolved into the party, leaving him and a few other ponies at the table.

Everypony was enjoying the party that Pinkie had planned, until somepony entered the place and the music stopped like a scratching record. The door closed behind the pony and eveypony, except Jethro stared. He turned around and saw the guest, standing up with a smile. "Greetings. Don't mind me, thou can keep partying." She looked around silently, feeling the fear and dislike towards her, their eyes telling her she should leave; so she sadly turned around to leave. "Luna wait!" Jethro walked as fast as he could towards her. She turned around and noticed his limp. "You don't have to go! You might feel unwanted, but it's just fear of Nightmare Moon, they don't know how to react around you, Luna. They might be like this now, suppersticious and all, but be yourself and they will warm up to you." He whispered to her, then looked into her eyes and smiled, grabbing her hoof and bringing her in. "Let's party everypony! This is the one who helped the young ones escape the timberwolves!" He shouted; the party slowly revived, and Jethro brought her to the table where the desserts were. She smiled and began enjoying the party, but mostly enjoying the company she had, her smile not leaving her lips.

The party finished, and everypony left, the Mane Six, Jethro, and Princess Luna walking towards Golden Oak Library. "...then, there was this dragon going RAWR! And Jethro flew*whoosshh* and tackled him to the ground and Princess Luna used her magic and BLAM! There was this big explosion and we all left running to the balloon, but timberwolves were there, and Twilight was all PEW PEW with her horn blasting the timberwolves and escaping." Pinkie re-enacted the whole events from last night, sound effects and everything. The day had advanced, and the sky changed from blue to different hues of red and orange. They reached the library and Luna extended her wings. "...I must thank you, Jethro, for such a great time." He rubbed the back of his neck. "It was nothing...I'm the one who should thank you, for being here. I didn't expect you to come today." She waved her hoof. "It was nothing. Thy had a great time today, and thy wanted to check on you." Thinking for a moment, she remembered something and levitated a parchment over to Twilight. "This here are tickets to the Grand Galloping Galla, a gift from Tia. The parchment has more details about the event." The girls squeed with glee for such an amazing gift, not much attention paid to her comment, and ran inside the library.

Now all alone, she felt nervousness take over her. _'Why is this so dificult...It's just a simple ticket...'_ Steeling her nerves, she spoke. "And this here is my gift to you, a ticket to the Galla..." A single golden ticket flew over her and stopped in front of him, covered with a cobalt blue glow. "...a reward for thine valiant efforts. Thy...I do hope you can come..." _'An invitation to a party? Urgh! I've never liked parties.'_ His thoughts tried to pull him away, but something was wrong. He could see the expectant look in her eyes, and for a strange reason felt moved by it. _'Why is her face so cute? Hold on...when did I start to think that she's cute? No matter, I'll think about it later.'_ Not wanting to delve deeper into his thoughts, for now, he decided to do what he felt was right. "Sure, I'll be there Luna." When he answered, she smiled brightly. _'What a cute smile...'_ He grabbed the ticket and tucked it under his good wing, securing it. "I should be going now, Tia is waiting for me to raise the moon." Behind her, her two guards were waiting with her carriage, ready to fly back to Canterlot. She flew over to the carriage, got comfortable in her chair and left, the moon slowly rising with her departure. _'What did I get myself into?'_

He entered the tree library, and noticed the girls with grins on their faces. "Soo...what happened?" Twilight was acting suspicious, and with the tone she used, it was pretty clear that she already knew. He opened his wing and took out the ticket. "Oh my! This is fabulous! We all get to attend the Grand Galloping Galla! You all must come by my shop for dress fitting...in case of you two - she pointed with a hoof at Spike and Jethro - for tux fitting, we have only a month for this!" She used her magic and brought over a pen and paper, sketching the dresses for each one.

Twilight brought over a tray of cups with cocoa for the rest of the Mane Six, and sat down on her cushion in front of Jethro, the rest of the girls in a semi-circle in front of him. "Ok, start explaining from the beginning what happened back at the castle."

* * *

 **(At Canterlot)**

Celestia had finished her dinner and was already in her room, donning a completely different look than usual. The white alicorn laid on her bed 'al natural', without her Royal Regalia; her crown, necklace and shoes near the dresser next to her bed. She had finished brushing her mane, and was now brushing her fur, holding the brush with her magic. More specifically, she brushed a small part near her neck that refused to return to it's place. This was the fault of the necklace, having it on all day made the fur in her neck unruly, and it took a generous amount of time to fix her fur in that spot. She was listening to some clasical music on a record, engrosed in brushing her fur, until she heard a chime in her room.

Opening her eyes, she found something interesting. _'Two letters? Twilight only sends me one...Who wrote the other one?'_ She used her horn and summoned the first letter, a bright red flame turning into a parchment. Curiously, she read the letter; followed by the second letter from a bright green flame. Placing her brush down, she pondered on the ideas suggested by both Twilight and Luna's friend. _'That could help with her little problem, but she'd be defenseless without guards. Unless I ask Twilight about suggesting him that...would he be willing to do that? Hold on, is it actually possible to do this anyway?'_ Rolling both letters and placing them under her wing, she walked outside the room, not before placing her crown back on her head. "Princess!" The two bat ponies placed at her door were standing in attention, wings open. "It's alright, young guards. I was on my way to my study to research on something." Both guards bowed in respect. "We will escort you to your study, princess." She smiled. "Thank you."

She reached the door and inserted her horn into the door, applying her magic to open the lock. Removing her horn, the hole where it was shone bright white; followed by the sun and moon, shining gold and pale blue respectively. The sun spun clockwise in place while the crescent moon spun around the sun counter-clockwise for a few seconds until clicking into place. The seemingly small doors opened to allow passage to the monarch. "The research might take some time, so I shall be sleeping here. Do keep up the good work of guarding the door." Both bat ponies saluted and she entered her study, the door slamming shut after her. The guards looked briefly at the door, then at each other. "What do you think is behind the door?" The youngest of the two asked, looking to his right. "I don't know Lieutenant, but entering a princess' study is like violating their privacy. Some law books even consider it high treason. Since it's not our concern, we don't ask or look, got it?" Said the older bat pony sternly. "Yes Commander!"

* * *

 **(Inside Celestia's study)**

The white alicorn looked around her study, the many different bookshelves immaculately clean. In the very center was a crescent moon shaped desk with a swivel chair; a blanket, in case it got cold; and a small fireplace. The desk was ocupied by many novels, and a pair of glases with the colors of her mane. These glasses were fake, as even though she didn't need them, she liked the way she looked with them. Placing them at the top of her head, she walked down the aisle where she could find books on laws. Placing the glasses on their place, she began inspecting the tittles, searching for the one she needed. _'Royal Gardeners, Royal Greetings, Royal Grounds...Aha! Royal Guard.'_ Levitating the book gently out of its place, she walked to her desk and opened the tome in question, looking over the table of contents. Flipping to the desired page, she read.

 _~The Royal Guard. The appointing of the Royal Guard has always been done by the monarch to which the guard will be associated with. The physical and psycological demands of a guard are usually high, but the standards are increased for any Royal Guard. This segment only delves into the responsabilities of the guards. If more details about a particular guard are needed, consult the book 'The Royal Guards of Equestria' Edited in xx65.~_

Moving the book to a side, but leaving it open, she returned to the aisle and searched for the next book. Returning to her chair with her objective, she again opened the book, and when she saw something, flipped the pages. _~Solar Guard. This guard, usually comprised of normal ponies; be it earth, pegasus, or unicorn, are tasked with protecting Princess Celestia.~_ Flipping some more pages, she read the next tittle. _~Solar Squires. A Guard unit comprised of guards in training, leaded by a medium ranking Royal Guard.~_ Flipping more pages, she saw a segment about the Griffon Royal Guard, Lion Royal Guard, the Sea Guard, the Cristal Guards, The Honor Guard; until finally reaching the segment she was looking for. _~Lunar Guard. This elusive and stoic guard is comprised mainly of bat ponies, although in pre-classical times some normal ponies joined, a species living on the western side of the Everfree Forest. Not much is known about the ponies that comprise it, as they barely speak on the job, and when out of the job they vanish. ~_ The whole segment on the Lunar Guard concluded, not even a page long. "Wait, where's the rest? There must be something more..."

She sat at her table, brought her specs down and munched on a choco waffer while thinking. _'The last tiem a guard was appointed was close to a millenia ago...the only place to find any kind of information about the appointment of guards is in...'_ "The Pre-Classical Archives!" She walked up to a wall, and focused until finding the hole she wanted. Firing a very focused magic beam, she hit her mark and the wall rumbled, taking a minute fo open fully. _'It's been centuries since I last opened this part of the study.'_ She thought. Searching again, she found a very old and dusty book that could have her answer. Placing it very carefully on a small stand next to the bookshelf, she opened it. Coincidentally, it opened on an interesting page. _~The Royal Guard. This tome deals specificaly with the Day Guard. The next tome enters into the Night Guard.~_ Leaving it there, she searched for the next tome, and found it next to where the book was. _~Night Guard. Bat ponies are the bulk of this guard. Twenty years ago, a unicorn joined and managed to reach the rank of Captain, sadly he was murdered by an undercover spy. There is no specific limit to which kind of pony joins the Night Guard, but only bat ponies have joined since the forming of the guard.~_

Celestia smiled. _'This could work after all... I could ask him about it later...'_ She walked out of the antique segment, the door closing after her magic, and she walked to the balcony. This enchanted balcony was built by her: a one way wall that only allowed her and her pet phoenix Philomena access from the outside. She watched as her phoenix flew in the night sky, a trail of fire behind her. "Come on Philomena, time to sleep." The phoenix descended on a spiral, landing gracefully on her outstretched wing. "The Galla this year will be better than the last millenium: with Luna, Twilight and her friends, and this mistery guest Lulu invited; I feel something good is bound to happen." The phoenix cooed happily and nuzzled her owner's cheek, before flying to her perch and sleeping. The elder sister entered the room atop of her study, furnished with the escentials for an overnight research. The bed, although not as grand as her room's, still held her cutie mark on the headrest and conforter. Next to it, the small dresser that held a few robes and a dress, kept there for emergencies. She removed her crown and placed it on the dresser, pulling the conforter with her magic. "Goodnight." She said, and her pet cooed softly, returning to sleep soon after that. _'This year's Galla will be interesting, to say the least.'_ Getting under the comforter, she let the softness of the bed lull her to sleep


	7. The Ballroom at the Gala

**Yooooo! It's been like...forever since I updated. I know, you all must be like: "Why'd you do this to us" and "Please update sooner". Well, worry not. I have almost finished my university, which means more time to write! I'll be posting with my bro, MinecraftMax every two or three sundays. Please enjoy this chapter of realization and the fluffyness.**

 **Pinkie: I liked the chapter.**

 **Celestia: I agree. This made a good impresion on what's happening with Lulu and Jethro.**

 **?: Let us stop this nonsence and let the readers get what they want, will you!**

 **Pinkie: Discord?**

 **Discord: Yes my party planning friend. Let this chapter begin!**

* * *

"Ohhh, so that's what happened..." Pinkie Pie blowed on her third hot chocolate while looking at Jethro. A few moments of silence helped him remember what he wanted to ask the party pony all day. " Hey Pinkie Pie, I've been meaning to ask, could you give me a ride to my house on the balloon? It's pretty far from here, and I can't walk all the way there like this." Pinkie downed her drink in one gulp and placed her cup on the tray. "What? You can't go back to the castle, you can stay here. I got extra rooms." Twilight interrupted Pinkie, who for some reason had begun looking at a notebook. "No, I can't bother you Twilight." Jethro tried reasoning, but he wasn't getting too far. "You should stay here Jethro, it's closer to the doctor and everything else. Although it's farther away than the castle from my house, it's easier for me to come here, and better for you."Fluttershy said, not helping him.

"*Sigh* Alright, I'll take your offer and stay here." Twilight clapped her hooves and left quickly to fetch a few things, a book included. He asked Fluttershy to accompany him to the room, and after clearing the massive misunderstanding that was caused mainly by Applejack, he decided to sleep on the floor of the library on the first floor, the Mane Six having retreated to the rooms; Twilight had decided to take the opportunity and have a slumber party, something she wanted to try.

The night was quiet, and everyone had a good night's rest, well mostly. At first sleep eluded Jethro, but after midnight, he managed to find it and rest. Sunlight shone through the second floor windows, waking up the Mane Six somewhere after 10 am. Twilight was the first to wake up. She trotted down the stairs, deftly avoiding furniture, and reaching the kitchen. _'Hold on...Why is the library so dark?_ ' Returning to the dark room, Twilight noticed that the furniture she dodged was not even there. ' _Wha...'_ The lavender mare looked around, noticing the closed windows and curtains, the blocked front door by a desk, and a lump near the fireplace. The darkness didn't let her see what the lump was, but getting closer allowed her to see that the lump moved up and down rhythmically, like a calm breathing pattern. Finally a few feet away from the mysterious object, the light from the fireplace revealed that the lump was crimson colored and scaly.

 _'It's only Jethro. I shouldn't wake him up._ ' Using her magic as quietly as possible, she tried opening the curtains, but they wouldn't move. She used her hooves to push the curtains up, but forgot one crucial detail, she was trying to open the squeaky curtain and it didn't fail to squeak. Freezing up, she looked back at her guest, and saw his head craned directly at her. "Hehe, sorry for waking you. I was just trying...to...open this window..." He yawned, and stretched a bit. "It's ok. It was time to wake up anyways." Jethro walked up to the window and with a push opened the curtain, repeating the process with the rest of them. "I'll fix up the library, you go ahead and fix breakfast for the girls." Twilight walked away to the kitchen, but stayed at the door frame.

She watched as he lifted the furniture with his claws and lowered them to their place effortlessly. Just before he finished fixing up the library, he cast a spell and transformed into the pegasus hybrid, the wing cast he had asked Fluttershy to fix last night in place. He kept his dragon tail, but the end had hair like a pegasus' tail; his rear legs were hooves, while his front legs had claws and a bit of scales. His face had the dragon's frills; he had his orange mane drawn back, his horns exposed, and at the top his orange scales pointing up. After finishing, he used another spell and he turned into a pegasus, the dragon traits hidden. ' _That was cool..._ ' From the stairs, Pinkie, AJ, Rarity, and Rainbow thought; the same train of thought as Twilight who watched from the doorframe. After breakfast was done, Rarity had asked for everypony to go to her boutique to start making the dresses.

At Rarity's place, she had begun pulling out the different fabrics for the dresses. The Mane Six chatted away, while the two dragons played a game of chess, Spike was winning. "How come you're winning?" Jethro looked at the board, only five of his pieces left. "Chess is a game of strategy. Twilight taught me that." Spike moved a rook, and eliminated another piece. "Three moves." Spike's comment put Jethro on edge. Minutes later, Spike won. "Well, it was fun." With a huff, Jethro looked to a side. "Not for me." Spike patted his back. "Don't worry, with practice, you can get better." Both downed their sodas, and exhaled happily. "~Spiiike! Come here!~" The small dragon floated up and left towards Rarity, leaving the crimson dragon alone. ' _Well, since I'm not up yet, I can take a nap '_

* * *

 **At Canterlot(2 weeks before the Gala)**

The two royal sisters were in a big room filled with fabrics, inserts, ribbons, and many things used in the crafting of dresses. Celestia had managed to get her sister to the room, but now the problem was to convince her to have another dress made for her. Sadly, the Moon princess wasn't very cooperative . "Lulu, you need to do this. You don't have any dresses for the Gala." The younger alicorn of the two had been avoiding the seamstress for a whole week now. "Tia! Thy have other dresses, thy'll have thou know!" She said, not really pleased. "It's been a millennia since you were here. The dresses are probably dust by now." With a huff, the Moon princess sat down on a cushion and let the seamstresses do their work. "So, who did you invite to the Gala?" Celestia began, trying to strike a conversation. Luna was still mad, but she answered. "No one special, just a friend of mine."

Luna began looking over the fabrics for the dress, but none caught her eye. "Mmmm... Did you invite that pegasus stallion you met back in Ponyville? What was his name...Jethro?" The question made her stop the searching of a fabric, and she nodded, not too surprised at the question, but at the fact she remembered his name. Looking back at the fabrics, she noticed that she had stopped on a teal blue silk that had wind-like patterns ghosted on the fabric, a very beautiful piece. One of the seamstresses saw how she observed the fabric, and approached the princess. "Oh, that's a nice color, and it matches your eyes. This would make a lovely piece." The mare waited patiently until Luna handed her the fabric and walked over to a table so she could start drawing different dress designs. "After all he did on Nightmare Night, thy wanted to thank him. An invitation to the Gala was the first thing thy could come up with."

"Mmm..." While nodding, Celestia hummed. ' _There are many ways to thank somepony, a ticket to the Gala isn't a bad idea, but there are easier ways._ ' Celestia picked up a few fabrics, and inspected them for her dress. "You could have told him to come for a tour around the castle or something similar..." While two seamstresses worked on Luna's dress, two more came to do Celestia's. "True, but Gala's are usually boring. Thy thought that having a friend to chat with could improve thy enjoyment of this dreadful event." The eldest sister smiled. "I must admit, that's same reason why I invited Twilight and her friends." There was silence at first, then both began laughing.

"We're all done princesses. The dresses will be done in a few days. We shall ask later for what kind of decorations you want on the dresses." Both sisters thanked the seamstresses, and exited the room. "*Yawn* Well, thy'll return to thy chambers to sleep. G'night Tia." Luna hugged her sister, and groggily trudged to her room. "Good night Lulu." The mentioned alicorn waved a wing without looking, and disappeared from view after turning a corner.

The white alicorn teleported out of the castle's east wing and reappeared at the eastern gardens, the guards at their posts. They all bowed and greeted her kindly when she walked by. "Greetings Princess. Could I speak with you for a moment?" A guard asked. Turning her head, she saw the guard, a white unicorn with bright yellow eyes and combat knife as his cutie mark. She nodded, and sat down on a nearby bench. "Before I continue, I would like to thank you for the commendation on my promotion. I'm..."

"Lieutenant Commander Chang, am I right?" Celestia smiled down on him, causing a lump on his throat. "...Yes. I never expected that the Princess would remember my name." He looked down slightly and avoided eye contact. "Well, with the way Shining Armor spoke about you, it would be hard to forget. If you keep working like this, you'll have a bright future." Celestia could see a faint smile on his lips. "Thank you for the praise. I wanted to talk about the security of the palace with the upcoming event. I believe that we should be increasing the amount of guards at the entrance, not leaving them in their current state."

Celestia summoned a tea cup and sipped, listening intently to the young new guard. "It's a valid point Lieutenant Commander, but there is no need for an increase of guards. It's been millennia, and nothing drastic has happened requiring the guard's presence. It's better to give the excess guards a night off, improve morale. I suggest you take it off too, in light of your recent promotion." Celestia commented, catching Chang off-guard. "I can't do that! I must live up to the expectations set over me!" Celestia wasn't surprised, she had seen this many times before.

"Taking a day off won't grant you a demotion." "But Princess!" With a sigh, Celestia teleported the tea cup elsewhere. "Don't be so stubborn young guard, enjoy your life a little. I, Princess Celestia order you to take the day of the Gala off." Chang opened his mouth to speak, but promptly closed it. "Yes Princess." Celestia smiled satisfied. "You are excused Lieutenant Commander." Chang bowed and turned to leave. ' _Damn it! I need to find another way to be at the Gala, or Gary will...'_ Chang shuddered, not wanting to suffer whatever Gary had in mind; so with a steady pace, he left the gardens.

* * *

 **(Somewhere around Ponyville)**

' _Two weeks down, and my wounds have healed marvelously. I might even be able to fly for the Gala at this rate..._ ' Jethro walked happily through the Town Square, having gotten out of his second check up visit. He and the doctors were amazed at his healing speed. Wounds that should have take two months to heal took two weeks. He didn't know what to do today, so he was looking at the different shops around town. "Look! It's Haru! The wandering trader!" A random pony shouted. Most ponies in the shops came out galloping to the street, stoping near this Haru fellow. He was pulling a wagon, and when everypony gathered around him, he opened it revealing a ton of foreign wares.

"I thank ye for receiving me today. Most of me wares this season are from the north of Prance(France), except for the botanics that come from an island that's between here and Saddle Arabia."

* * *

 **Jethro POV**

I looked around the wagon, curious as to why there was so much, uh, how should I say this...junk. The redeeming bit was the vast amount of spices. Some of them actually smelled good, so I picked the one that I felt irritated my nose the most. ' _Man, this would make a good condiment for chilly...'_ My mouth began to water at the thought of spicy chilly. "Well, ah didn't know there was someone brave enough ta buy me my Diablo Ghost Peppers. I gotta warn ya, they're very spicy."

While Haru talked to me, a pale magenta pony with a pale, light grayish lime green mane approached us. She had a saddlebag with two daisies, most probably the same as her cutie mark. "Haru, it's wonderful to see you." She approached him and draped her front hoof over his neck. "Ah, Daisy. Long time no see!" He said, looking back at his wagon. "I couldn't find what you asked me to bring you." Daisy settled down and waved her hoof. "Don't worry. I can make it without it. I really came by to say hi because of this." She rummaged through her saddlebag for a moment and pulled out a flower. "This here flower you brought last time beat me. I couldn't even make it bloom once."

The flower was in a small clay pot. The stem was thicker than average, and its leaves looked puffy. The flower bud was large, it was probably a corsage, with purple-blue petals that had dark blue veins. It had an odd tear shape, and I couldn't shake the thought that I knew it. "Well, not a single pony that I give the flower to manages to make it bloom. The one that traded it to me told me that just before it blooms, it has a very strong, putrid smell, but when it opens it smells like mountain breeze, a bit of honey, and firewood." ' _Ohh! Its a Midnight Blaze!_ ' Mom had a whole garden of this. "It's a Midnight Blaze!" Haru and Daisy looked at me with big eyes. "...Yes... Are you a botanist? I haven't met anypony who knows this flower by its name and not be a botanist."

I unconsciously scratch my neck. "Jejeje. No, but my mom had a whole garden with this flower. I know how to make it bloom." Both were surprised. "Really?" I nod at Haru, and he hands me the flower. "Here, if you can make it bloom in the next two days, you can have it. I'll be at the Honey Bee Inn." Haru hitched his wagon and walked away. Haru is a brown pegasus with a blue mane, a brass scale as his cutie mark. He comes around every six or seven months; Fluttershy told me that the last time he came I was at the cave in Tim...the Everfree Forest.

I wrap the pot with my wing and walk towards Twilight's tree home. ' _I'm surprised. Never expected to find you here...I think like I'm talking to the flower... That's somewhat sad...'_

* * *

 **(The day of the Gala, just after lunch.) Normal POV**

After lunch at Pinkie's place, Jethro walked to Carousel Boutique, to pick up his tailored suit from his fashionista friend. *Knock knock* He tapped the door with his claw/hoof loud enough for her to hear. "Jethro darling, is that you?" A tired sigh escaped his maw. ' _Well, let's get this over with._ ' "Yes, and I brought Spike." Both of them could hear the unmistakable clip clop of horseshoes, and a few moments later, the door opened. "Good. You smell better than usual, it's great you followed my advice about wearing perfume." She led them inside and closed the door. Inside, the girls are getting ready for tonight, in different stages.

Twilight was applying make-up with her near surgical precision, Flutters was putting on her hair ornaments, Pinkie was dressed as a candy corn for some reason, Rarity was doing...something to her hair and Rainbow was struggling to stay put while AJ tried to comb her mane. "Would you be a dear and get your suits. They're on the rack near the back." Jethro walked carefully through the crowd of mares, reaching his destination and pulling both suits out. "Here ya go Spike." He handed the small dragon his clothes, and proceeded to get dressed himself. ' _Putting this on_ _was easier than I thought.'_

Having finished, Rarity looked at me and smiled. "Well, you look dashing! Princess Luna will certainly like it." Rarity had tailored the suit for his dragon form, sure it had added to the difficulty of the job, but she enjoyed a challenge every once in a while. He had a grey fitted button down shirt with a crimson red bowtie and a navy blue suit. Spike had a similar arrangement, except that he had the more traditional black and white color scheme. "Maybe, but I wont be looking like this." A moment later, he looked like a pegasus, still looking as dashing.

"Well, no matter what shape you show her, she'll still like it." Rarity said, confidently. Slightly embarrassed, Jethro turned to the door. "Well, I'll be leaving now...Twilight! Did you prepare the container like I asked you?" Stopping the application of her eye liner, she looked at him. "Yep! They're near the flower pot." "Thanks Twi." Exiting the Boutique, he closed the door. "What's the container for Twilight?" Fluttershy asked curiously. "Well, he plans to transport there the flower Rarity suggested he give Princess Luna." Fluttershy had her mouth in a small 'o' shape, soon replaced with a smile.

* * *

 **At the Gala(7:45 pm)**

The apple shaped carriage pulled up in front of the Castle of Canterlot, two guards standing in attention at the door. Spike hopped down from the driver's seat and opened the door like a gentle colt. The Mane Six got off of their ride, each looking stunning in Rarity's work. Not a minute later, a cloud flew over them lower than usual. They watched as it spiraled down and landing just in front of the carriage, Jethro hopped down. "Hello." Jethro had two small containers under his wings, not bothered to hide them from sight. "Jethro! There you are!" Twilight saw him, and began dragging him.

"Come on, let's go meet Princess Celestia." He struggled a bit to follow her, but he managed either way. He marveled at the impressive high celling, the well decorated marble columns, and the refinement of the place. Then, he saw something that caused a knot in his stomach: the amount of ponies in the room. "Come on Jethro, it's this way." He focused on Twilight instead of the amount of ponies, and managed to push through until meeting Twilight, who was talking to Celestia. "Princess Celestia, this is the friend I've been talking about in the letters. His name is..." Twilight stopped talking when Celestia began speaking.

"Jethro Firebrand, it's a delight to finally meet you. Lulu speaks wonders of you." Jethro, surprised, kneeled and bowed. "There is no need for such formalities young stallion. As my sister's guest, I welcome you to this event." Jethro's mind went blank. ' _She knows my name? Luna speaks of me... I don't know if it's good or bad._ ' He pulled out one container and gave her the flower that was inside it. "This here is a gift. It's a Midnight Blaze. Around 11:45 pm, it will start to develop a strong, putrid aroma, which is totally normal. If a spell is cast to remove the stench, the bud won't bloom, so please refrain from using spells on it." Celestia looked at the plant curiously, and smiled at him. "I'll do my best to keep your gift safe." He nodded, then began looking around for the dark blue alicorn.

The white alicorn smiled. "My sister is in the other room. Have fun." Listening to the white alicorn, he walked to the other room, the amount of high class ponies overwhelming. "Jethro! Thou hath managed to come!" Luna called from the end of the room, he thanked his enhanced senses that allowed him to hear her. "Princess Luna..." He had opened his mouth open to greet her, but no words came out, he just stared at her. She was dressed in a teal blue dress with silvery sleeves and shoes. The dress had a wide V neckline that framed a corset styled blouse, connected to a long flowing skirt that extended to the back.

Her tail was concealed by the dress, but her mane wasn't. She had silvery eye shadow, with a small amount of blusher, and mate light pink lipstick. Her hair had a single bang that curled and partially framed her right eye, giving her this exotic look. Her black crown still rested on her head, and the rest of her flowing mane was held by a silver headband with two diamond shaped pieces that hung at the end of the headband. It gave her mane a low ponytail look (no pun intended), while the rest swayed like smoke.

All the time Jethro walked to her, he didn't stop staring, and that made Luna a bit self conscious. "...Please don't stare, 'tis embarrassing..." She whispered, making him feel self conscious. "Sorry." He looked away flustered, too nervous to speak. "Would thou want some punch?" She asked him. He, still mute, nodded. She ushered him to follow her, and he did, feeling his nerves start to betray him.

From the other side of the room, Celestia observed. ' _He seems to be uncomfortable around a big group of ponies, or enclosed spaces...or both.'_ She watched with a smile as her sister fetched both punch cups and handed one to him. They had a chat, but he was still tense. ' _Better help him somehow._ ' Celestia's horn glowed for a second, then it stopped. "Princess..." Twilight called her. "Yes, my faithful student..." The lavender unicorn doubted for a second. "I don't want to meddle, but what did you do just now?" With a smile, Twilight's mentor answered. "I just did my part in helping Lulu." Twilight smirked. "You mean, you played matchmaker?" Celestia had a satisfied smile, looking as the message had reached her sister. "You could say that." She winked at her pupil, a grin plastered on her muzzle.

* * *

 **Luna POV**

' _Thy can't believe it! How didn't thy notice?'_ Thy was chatting with Jethro, and Thy noticed that he was tense the whole time, but thought it was nothing. A little bit into the conversation, Tia sent me a telepathic message. ' _He doesn't feel comfortable around crowds, why couldn't thy piece it together.'_ Not thinking what other ponies might have thought, I grabbed his hoof (' _He actually has claws...should Thy call them claws?'_ ) and brought him to a balcony, coincidentally it was the same one Thy had lunch that time Thy visited Tia's dream.

Thy could see him sigh in relief and smile. Then, I could see a kind of box between one of his wings. ' _Hold on, didn't he have a wing cast?_ ' "Jethro, might thy ask what happened to thine wing cast?" He looked at his wing and smiled at me. "The doc removed it. I have fully recovered from what happened that night." He flapped his wings to demonstrate, and the box fell, almost hitting the ground before Thy caught it with my magic. "This is yours." Thy placed the box closer, but he shook his head. "Nope. I wanted to give it to you, it's a gift." Curious, Thy opened the box to find a purple blue flower inside. "I thought you'd like it...do you?" Thy couldn't believe it, it was gorgeous. "Shard, it's wonderful." A mere moment later, Thy brought a hoof to my muzzle. "I-uh-didn't mean to..." Thy had never heard anyone call him Shard, and at that moment he seemed like he was somewhere else. "...It's ok Luna, you can call me that when we're alone. I don't mind." Thy could feel the repressed sigh escape my lips.

Then he did something I won't forget in a long time. Stepping closer, he used a hoof/claw and moved my bang to a side, then after grabbing the flower, he placed it behind my left ear. "There, a beautiful flower for a beautiful mare...although the mare is beautiful without it." Thy could feel thine cheeks alight with heat, and had to look slightly to the left, bringing a wing to cover thine face. My mane had covered part of my face while thy looked at him. "Thou art quite the gentlecolt." My face felt like on fire with his compliment. When thy thanked him, he blushed slightly and looked up, avoiding thine gaze.

* * *

 **Normal POV**

It was 11:50, close to midnight, and Celestia noticed the foul aroma that began emanating from the flower a few minutes ago. She had reassured the other ponies that it was normal, but one pony in particular didn't want to buy it. At a distance, Prince Blueblood was looking at the flower with seething hatred. "That's it!" With heavy hoof steps, he approached Celestia. "Auntie Celestia! Can you please do something about this retching aroma?!" Calmly, Celestia spoke. "Nephew, this smell is normal for this flower, so there is nothing we can do." Blueblood flinched. "What?! This stench is not normal. Something must be done!" Not even taking a second, he charged a beam and shot it at the flower, effectively removing the foul aroma, but at the same time causing the bud to wilt.

Blueblood looked as Celestia's face changed to a raged look. "Blueblood!" The area around them suddenly turned quiet. Looking up, he saw the sadness in her eyes. "This was a gift from Jethro, Luna's guest. And now thanks to your recklessness, it has been destroyed. I'm very disappointed in you." Using her magic, she grabbed the flower and proceeded to walk away, looking for the one that gave it to her. Soon, the clock struck midnight, and the bells rang. In that instant, Luna could feel the bud opening. Throughout the whole hall, the retching aroma changed to a soft mountain breeze, with honey and a touch of firewood.

Celestia, with a glow of her horn, teleported out of the crowd of ponies and appeared outside close to Luna and Shard. She waited for a moment, then cleared her throat. "Jethro, I must apologize." Celestia was bowing her head slightly, and this caused some of the high class ponies that could see her to gasp. "Princess, please. There's no need." He reassured surprised that one of the dyarches would bow down at him.(A dyarchy is similar to a monarchy, but with two leaders instead of one.) "There is. I failed to keep the flower safe." The white alicorn sat down and showed the wilted bud. "A spell was cast to remove the smell, wilting the bud." He walked closer and inspected the dead flower. "You didn't use magic on it, it was someone else. If you crush the remains and burry them in a flower pot, the flower will grow again." Surprised, Celestia looked at him, her expression speaking for her. ' _How does he know I didn't cast the spell?'_ "The flower doesn't have your smell, so someone else did it. I'm not mad." Now her eyes were wide open. ' _Can he read minds...that's impossible..._ ' Shard laughed a bit. "Worry not Princess, I can't read your mind. I'm just good at reading faces, a survival skill."

She relaxed, her easy going smile returning to her face. "Well, thank you for being so understanding, and for the directions on growing the flower. I must return to the party now. Excuse me." She did a respectful bow and left. From the bench where Luna and he were sitting, the stage inside the hall was visible. Shard saw as a group of ponies walked up and whispered something into the ear of the musicians. They nodded and left with their instruments. The ponies had bat wings, and had all the instruments needed for a light rock band. There was a bat pony with a red electric guitar that came up to the mic. "Greetings everypony, the band Night Life here. It's already past midnight, so it's time for some quality entertainment. Those of you who want, get ready to shake your flanks! We'll begin with some Rock and Roll, then near the end we'll slow down for some calmer dancing." Pinkie Pie was the first to cheer, already dancing and shouting to the unheard beat.

* * *

 **Shard POV**

They began playing a Beetles song that I didn't really know. I wasn't really paying attention to my surroundings, but when the song was close to end, I noticed Luna was dancing on her spot, gently moving her wings to the beat. Just as the song was over, a new one began, and this one I knew well. It was an up-beat jazz, Lissa loved to make me dance these types of songs with her. Luna seemed to have gotten slightly more impatient, so I stood up and extended my hoof. "Care for a dance?" She placed her hoof on mine and stood up from the bench at my question with a broad smile. "Thy thought thou'd never ask." I began leading her to the dance floor, and when it was in sight I pumped my wings, taking to the air and bringing Luna with me. She then flew on her own and we were 10 feet from the floor.

(Play song Johnny B. Goode by Chuck Barry)[Hope I got the name of the guy right, if not sorry]

 _~Deep down in Louisiana close to New Orleans,_

 _Way back up in the woods among the evergreens_

 _There stood a log cabin made of earth and wood,_

 _Where lived a country boy named Johnny B. Goode_

 _Who never ever learned to read or write so well,_

 _Bu the could play a guitar just like a ringing bell._

 _Go, go_

 _Go, Johnny, go, go_

 _Go, Johnny, go, go_

 _Go, Johnny, go, go_

 _Go, Johnny, go, go_

 _Johnny B. Goode~_

We began the more complex dance while flying. ' _Thank you Lissa for making me dance this so many times with you.'_ With a hoof/claw on her back and the other on her hoof, I led her with the twirling and lifts, sometimes jumping over her(more like flying higher). I had a huge grin plastered on my maw.

 _~He used to carry his guitar in a gunny sack_

 _Or sit beneath the tree by the railroad track._

 _Oh, the engineers would see him sitting in the shade,_

 _Strumming with the rhythm that the drivers made._

 _The people passing by, they would stop and say,_

 _"Oh, my, but that little country boy could play!"_

 _Go, go_

 _Go, Johnny, go, go_

 _Go, Johnny, go, go_

 _Go, Johnny, go, go_

 _Go, Johnny, go, go_

 _Johnny B. Goode~_

I could see her smiling, maybe grinning, I don't know what it was. Never mind, I was having too much fun, and she was too for what I could see. I spun her around over me, she would pull me to where she was. We kept dancing in the air, not a care in the world about the rest of the guests who were most probably watching our display. I could feel a soft gaze over me, and in a moment when Luna was over me, I could see the one gazing. She was white, with a rainbow mane. ' _Why is Princess Celestia looking at us?_ ' I dove down backwards and Luna followed.

 _~His mother told him, "Someday you'll be a man,_

 _And you will be the leader of a big old band._

 _Many people coming from miles around_

 _To hear you play your music when the sun goes down._

 _Maybe someday your name will be in light_

 _Saying 'Johnny B. Goode tonight'."_

 _Go, go_

 _Go, Johnny, go, go_

 _Go, Johnny, go, go_

 _Go, Johnny, go, go_

 _Go, Johnny, go, go_

 _Johnny B. Goode~_

Just when the last verse of the chorus ended, I held Luna in a dip. One claw/hoof on her back, the other with her hoof, we gazed at each other, grins on our faces. There was a round of applause, and I righted her, letting her stand on her own. She bowed gracefully, unfazed by the attention while I waved, I most probably looked awkward. Time passed like a breeze with her, being an hour and a half of great dancing later.

I've had a few...you could say a lot...of this sweet grape liquor, and didn't feel buzzed in the slightest. ' _Good thing they don't serve Ansal, or I would have been real drunk by now._ ' Luna had her glass of wine surrounded by her cobalt blue magic, smiling at the sky. "Thy must say, thy'm impressed. Thy never though thou could hold thine liquor like Tia, or dance classic rock like that." I chuckled, and we both laughed. "I never knew a Princess drank so much, and my sister made me dance a lot. Dragons have high metabolism, so alcohol doesn't affect us. The only thing strong enough to buzz us is Ansal." She had a devious smirk on her muzzle. "Really? Thy find that interesting."

We continued chatting, deep into the night. It was now 2:15 am. "Can thy ask something?" She didn't look very happy, and that wasn't good. "Yeah, sure." She played with her glass for a moment. "Art thou...unhappy at the party? Before coming out here, thou were nervous and tense…" I looked at her with my mouth open. "Uh, I wouldn't say unhappy, its more like overwhelmed by the amount of ponies...I'm not good with a lot of ponies around." She giggled and I could feel my heartbeat increase.

"Well everypony, it's time to slow it down. Get your partner and move to the rhythm." The bat pony said. They played a Michael Bolton song, so I tried looking at the sky. Those minutes felt a lot longer than I wanted, until the song ended. With the edge of my eye, I could see her as impatient as before or more for a dance, but I didn't know how to dance to this slow music. The song now was 'Stuck on You' by Lionel Richie. He is my all time favorite singer, and I knew the song by heart. I began mouthing the lyrics silently until I felt a tap on my shoulder. "Could thou dance with me?" Luna asked me. The moon outside gave her eyes this strange shine, and I couldn't help but feel drawn to her gorgeous teal eyes that silently asked for a yes with all their might. I don't move, I just looked down. "I don't know how to dance to this music..."

 _~Stuck on you._

 _I've got this feeling down deep in my soul that I just can't loose._

 _Guess I'm on my way.~_

These lyrics said perfectly what I felt in that moment. Her eyes had this happy glint as she smiled at me. "Do not worry Shard, Thy shall teach thou." Trusting my heart yet again against my mind's rant, I let her lead me to the air close by, not even going to the dance floor. That was actually good for me. I held her just like I did before in the other dances, but she shook her head. "Thou don't dance these songs like that. Thou hath to hold me closer, like this." Grabbing my hoof/claw, she repositioned it and moved far closer than before, our faces a few inches apart; our bodies in a warm embrace. "Now just let the music take you." She was smiling the whole dance, and all I could think of was her: how nice she was being with me, how patient and observant, the way she smiled at me when we danced; how beautiful she looked with that teal blue dress with her silver accessories, her mane that added this etherial mood to the moment, and her eyes that could easily peer into my soul while at the same time showing me a different side to the beautiful alicorn dancing with me called Luna.

I didn't notice when the song ended, or if we danced to more than one song, I was transfixed by her. When we alighted down, I let her go, the warmth she left feeling good. "Thanks Shard, for the marvelous evening." She hugged me, and I felt fuzzy on the inside. She turned around to leave, but came back quickly. "Thy hope thou enjoyed the night." She then did something I never thought she would do. She approached me and planted a miss on my cheek, it didn't last more than a few seconds, but it was an eternity for me. She then blushed with this cute smile on her muzzle, turned around and left. "..." I could feel smoke rising from my nose. ' _Did she just...nah, she couldn't have... Unless I'm seeing things...It could have been my imagination...then again, my eyesight is great. Maybe the alcohol got to me...because seriously, I could swear I just saw her blow me a kiss...yep! It's most probably the alcohol! I need to lay off of it.'_


End file.
